By Scott Gilfoid: WBO super featherweight champion Ricky Burns (30-2, 7 KO’s) will be facing yet another mismatched opponent this Saturday night in little known Ghanian Joseph Laryea (14-4, 11 KO’s) at the Braehead Arena, in Glascow, Scotland. This is Burns’ second title defense of his World Boxing Organization strap that he won last year with a close 12 round decision over the weight drained champion Roman Martinez. It looks like Burns is milking his WBO title by defending it against the #11 ranked Laryea.

It was incredible that Burns’s last opponent Andreas Evensen was ranked #3 by the WBO. The super featherweight division must be horrible or the WBO is giving away rankings like its candy. Evensen looked like a 2nd tier fringe contender to me, and it’s sad that he was ranked #3. What’s even more disappointing is that Burns is taking on a guy like Laryea that’s ranked so far down in the pack.

I think I see a trend coming here where Burns will be taking on the least dangerous opponent he can find during his optional defenses and then taking on whatever obscure contender the WBO happens to rank. The WBO has the best contenders – Jorge Linares and Jason Litzau ranked well down in the pack for some reason. That’s very convienant for Burns because he can continue to ignore them and take on the Laryeas and Evensens of the super featherweight division until some point in the distant future where those guys are ranked high enough to get a fight with Burns. At that point you can bet Burns will be beaten and lose his title.