By Graeme Campbell: WBO lightweight boss Ricky Burns (36-2-0, 11ko’s) looks certain to make his much anticipated US debut early in the New Year most likely at the mecca of boxing Maddison Square Garden.
‘The Rickster must first take care of business in Glasgow on September 7th in a stay busy kind of fight against Raymundo Beltran. The Freddie Roach trained Beltran will have all the trouble in the world against Burns simply because he has not faced anything like the same level of competition as the talented and popular Scotsman.
Some have said Beltran will benefit from the years of experience sparring with ring legend Manny Pacquiao however it is more accurate to say Beltran has developed a sparring partner type of mentality. Come fight night this will be neither here nor there as Burns will dominate the challenger from start to finish highlighting the difference in levels.
The good news here is that we can look forward to an entertaining and competitive fight against young Terrance Crawford. Crawford is without question the number one lightweight in the US with or without Adrien Broner in the division.
Broner has been guilty of timing his offers to fight Burns so precisely that it becomes impossible to accept. Broner and his management team have done an excellent job in creating the illusion that they want the fight when it is pretty obvious that they do not. So much so that a smoke screen assent through the weight classes has made this fight even less likely.
Boxing fans will however get the fight that they want to see with Burns and Crawford. Don’t get me wrong Crawford can fight but he is not at the level of Burns just yet. HBO have shown a strong interest in showing Burns on their network for some time now but the demand has increased dramatically since the demolition job of Chelo Gonzalez.
The fight will generate huge interest on both sides of the Atlantic particularly if the fight takes place in mid April during Tartan week in NYC. We will be looking at a huge tartan invasion of the lower Manhattan area surpassing even the Hatton invasions of Las Vegas.
Boxing really needs this type of fan base as there is simply nothing like in the US or anywhere else in the world right now. The American fight fans should embrace the arrival of the Rickster as they will be seeing him for quite some time. Billy Nelson the trainer of Ricky has outlined their intention of moving to 140 in the near future with Danny Garcia the potential mark. This again a fight that is very winnable. The ultimate goal here is a domestic super fight with
Amir King Khan towards the end of 2014 even if that means moving to 147 to dominate there also. The Khan fight would bring more money to the table than anything on offer from America and as such would take place at the centre of the boxing world in the UK in front of an enormous audience.
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