By William Mackay: WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (34-2, 9 KO’s) did what he had to do to beat former WBA lightweight champion Paulus Moses last Saturday night by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Braehead Arena, Glasgow, in Scotland, United Kingdom. Burns, 28, will now move forward to his mouth-watering fight against Kevin Mitchell (33-1, 24 KO’s) in a fight that is being talked about taking place in an outdoor arena possibly in Scotland.

It’s a winnable fight for Burns, because Mitchell previously lost to Michael Katsidis, a fighter who Burns recently outpointed by a 12 round decision last November. Styles make fights, though, and Mitchell could have some tricks that he could use to beat Burns and take his WBO strap with any luck. One thing that will be going against Mitchell will be his lack of size in comparison to the huge 5’10” long-armed and very heavy Burns. It’s not so much Burns’ height and reach but more so his size on the night of his fights.

Burns looked like 154 pounder in beating Moses last Saturday night and that was a big plus for him. Mitchell is a fighter fighter but he’s a legitimate lightweight and he doesn’t balloon up in weight after he weighs in. He would have a lot of problems with Burns’ size and could end up getting roughed up and dominated by the bigger Burns. Mitchell has an advantage in that he moves well, and throws quick combinations. His offense is a lot better than Moses, but he’s going to have to be really busy in order to beat Burns because they won’t give him the decision unless he can keep up with Burns in terms of work rate.

Mitchell has the speed and the boxing ability to win this fight, but he doesn’t have the extra tonnage that Burns will bring to the ring. Unless they’re going to have a same day weigh-in limit, I think Mitchell may end up being out-weighed by 15 to 20 pounds come fight night. That’s going to be too much for him and he’ll end up getting squashed.