By Sean McDaniel If WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns’ promoter is unable to put together a fight this summer because Burns and #1 WBO Kevin Mitchell, then #14 WBO contender Gavin Rees (36-1-1, 17 KO’s) is a possible back-up plan for Burns.

It goes without saying that the Mitchell vs. Burns fight is the best possibility if the idea is to make money and generate excitement for the boxing public. However, Mitchell reportedly wants a lot of money to fight Burns and that’s something that could be the deciding factor in whether the fight gets made or not.

If Mitchell is ruled out for the summer, then this opens a window for 31-year-old EBU lightweight champion Rees to slide in and get a title shot that he might have gotten otherwise given his low ranking in the division. Burns would be skipping over a lot of other higher ranking contenders if he was to give a shot against Rees. However, pretty much none of the, other than Mitchell, would bring in the money that a Burns-Rees fight would bring in.

It’s a winnable fight for Burns, because Rees isn’t in his class and will likely be too small to be a real threat in this fight. But it’s a good fight because Rees has been looking good as of late having won nine of his last eleven fights since 2008.

Rees might prove a lot tougher than Burns’ last few opponents like Michael Katsidis, because Rees is a nonstop puncher on the inside and it doesn’t matter if his opponent is trying to tie him up. Rees will keep punching and make sure they fight an honest fight by not hugging him all night long to try shut him down. Burns doesn’t have a high work rate and he could find himself in an uncomfortable situation where unless he starts throwing more punches, he could take a lot of punishment and lose the fight.