By Scott Gilfoid: WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) already suspects he’s going to be really in for it against IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (33-3, 13 KO’s) next month on March 16th in their fight in the UK in London.
Vazquez is so much different and so much better than the guys that Burns has been fighting his entire 12-year pro career. Up until now, Burns has been fighting against the typical slugger/boxer type in the UK, and his experience against world class opposition has been rather limited to just a couple of fighters that are decent but not great.
Easily the best guy that Burns has fought during his career is Roman Martinez, and the rest of them have been fighters that are more fringe and 2nd tier than anything else, like Kevin Mitchell, Paulus Moses, Joseph Laryea, and Andreas Evensen. These aren’t the real top guys at lightweight and super featherweight.
Burns is going to be dealing with a much higher class of fighter in facing Vazquez, and all the tools that he has in his game are going to be useless. Burns likes to slug, but that will be turned against him against Vazquez because he yields readily when attacked by fighters that come out aggressively. But the thing is Vazquez is so agile that he’s able to hit even while backing away or circling on the move, and he doesn’t try and put any power on the shots.
That’s why he’s able to make constant so often. Burns is the opposite. He tries to get the most out of his shots, and he’s constantly coming forward. He likes to get in close and really work his opponents over with shots, and he’s not afraid to rough them up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a referee take points away from Burns while fighting in the UK, and yet I’ve seen him commit a lot of fouls.
More power to him if he can get away with it at home, then I guess there’s no reason to stop. However, I don’t think the rough stuff will work for Burns against Vazquez because he’s not going to be standing there letting Burns get in position to try anything.
Vazquez won’t be coming at Burns in straight lines so that he can time him, and land his shots. Vazquez won’t make the mistakes that Kevin Mitchell, Burns’ last opponent did, by looking to punch with him.
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