Ricky Burns fought tonight in front of an energetic packed Scottish crowd at the Braehead Arena, Glasgow. This was Burns’ first defence in the lightweight division and in his way stood Paulus Moses.
The Namibian Moses had 28 victories from 29 fights with 19 KO’s. On paper this seemed like a tough test for Ricky.
Ricky started with a strong jab from the opening bell and throughout the night he continued to work behind it with good success, while landing with various combinations switching from the body to head frequently.
Moses controlled the centre of the ring for the majority of the fight but Ricky’s movement caused Moses to miss a lot while being picked off with precision shots from Burns.
There was a scary moment for Burns in round nine when Moses caught Ricky flush on the chin, but Ricky survived and Moses was unable to take advantage of the situation.
The champion made Moses look ordinary at times throughout the fight, although Moses came on strong in the later rounds it still wasn’t enough to beat the champion Burns.
Ricky Burns retained his WBO lightweight world crown with a unanimous points victory after a hard fought and disciplined performance. The score cards read 119-110 120-110 117-111.
This Ringnews24 reporter scored the fight 120-118 for Ricky Burns.
This week we have had Gavin Rees call out Burns, while in tonight’s studio Anthony Crolla also said he would like to fight Ricky.
The anticipated fight that should happen next is Ricky Burns v Kevin Mitchell, possibly in the summer at Airdrie Football Club’s Excelsior Stadium which has a 10,000 capacity.
Other Results:
Paul Appleby went on to win a questionable unanimous decision against Irishman Stephen Ormond to move on to a record of 18-3. Future fights for Appleby include the British title holder Liam Walsh, Wales’ Gary Buckland and a possible rematch with tonight’s contender Stephen Ormond.
England and Scotland’s Callum Johnson impressed with a first round knockout over Ireland’s Tommy Tolan to take his record to 4-0.
Edinburgh’s Stephen Simmons recorded a stoppage win in the final round against Zimbabwe’s Hastings Rasani to move onto 4-0.
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