By William Mackay: WBO super featherweight champion Ricky Burns (32-2, 9 KO’s) is eying a fight against No.1 ranked super featherweight Mzonke Fana (30-4, 12 KO’s) for the The Ring title. The title is currently vacant right now, but Burns, 28, wants to fight the 37-year-old Fana for the belt. I usually have a lot of respect for the The Ring’s rankings but in this case I have none.

I’m sorry but I don’t see Fana as being anywhere close to being the top fighter in the super featherweight division and I’m not sure what The Ring was thinking of when they made this guy number #1 in their rankings. He’s a decent fighter but come on, he was beaten by an average Cassius Baloyi not long ago. And he was destroyed by Marco Antonio Barrera in a 2nd round knockout in 2005.

I don’t see Burns getting much credit for beating an old guy pushing 40 like Fana. As far as the The Ring rankings system goes for the super featherweight division, they have Fana five or six places too high. If Burns wants to earn respect from fans and not pick up an empty title that few boxing fans will acknowledge as having any real meaning, Burns needs to fight guys like Takashi Uchiyama or Adrien Broner. Look at the ratings, they have Juan Salgado ranked above Broner. That’s just silly because Salgado was recently stopped by Uchiyama just last year.

Burns defeated Nicky Cook last Saturday night by a 1st round stoppage after Cook injured his back. It was a terrible fight with a poor ending. After a debacle like this, Burns needs an excellent opponent, not a 37-year-old fighter like Fana for the The Ring belt. Burns needs to face someone a lot younger who is seen by the larger world as the top guy at super featherweight and not just some organization.