By Scott Gilfoid: There’s no question what WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (34-2, 9 KO’s) will be trying to do next month against Britain’s Kevin Mitchell (33-1, 24 KO’s) in their fight on September 22nd at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, in Glasgow, Scotland. Burns, 29, is going to almost surely fight the same way against Mitchell as he did in his wins over Michael Katsidis and Paulus Moses.

In other words, you can look for Burns to clinch 24/7, put Mitchell in debilitating arm bars, and throwing few good shots. We’re talking weak arm punches, grabbing, stalling out the clock by tying him, and all without the referee penalizing it. I wish I could predict that the referee will do his job and penalize Burns until he stops grabbing and holding, but I don’t see that happening. It’s going to be like watching amateur wrestling at the state level with Burns nullifying Mitchell’s speed and power advantages by grabbing and applying different holds.

For boxing fans who for some reason think that the Burns-Mitchell fight will be an exciting one, I’m afraid I have to be the bearer of bad news for you. The fight is going to be painful to watch and as irritating as watching someone slowly drag their fingernails over a chalk board back and forth for 12 rounds. The action isn’t going to happen and you’re just going to want to wish it were over with already.

The fights in Scotland therefore Mitchell has got his work cut for him. If I’m Mitchell’s trainer, I’d be working on different punches to throw while having one of my arms held in an arm bar. I’d also be working on getting better at throwing punches while someone had me in a tight clinch to try and keep me from throwing shots. That has to be Mitchell’s main focus during training camp, because unless he can throw punches while he’s being held, he’s going to have a hard time getting any of his shots off.