Home Boxing News Burns vs Beltran – The Writers’ Predictions

Burns vs Beltran – The Writers’ Predictions

James Tonks
The fans reaction said it all when the fight was announced, after being promised a big name for Ricky Burns we where told it would be a fight against Raymundo Beltran. To rub salt further into the wound Eddie Hearn said the fight would be 50-50 and anyone could win.

 

After studying Beltran’s recent fights, I can not see this fight being a 50-50 fight. Poor movement and easy-to-hit Beltran is tailor made for Ricky Burns to land at will and to produce a dominate display, which is much needed after his lucky escape against Jose Gonzalez.

I expect Burns to look very good in this fight, using his jab to keep his distance before unleashing combinations on the stationary Beltran before moving out of Beltran’s reach. Ricky is not known for his stoppages, but I do think he may get one in this fight as thirty-two-year-old Beltran will get frustrated and make mistakes allowing Burns to land more punches. I do favour a Burns unanimous decision but I wouldn’t be too surprised by a Burns TKO. Ricky Burns

Rob Day
Ricky Burns seemed very fortunate to hold onto his belt after being bedazzled, out-boxed, out-thought and out-punched by Jose A.Gonzalez in his last outing. This time he meets a solid, if unspectacular, contender in Raymundo Beltran and the Mexican is a known quantity, unlike Gonzalez, and shouldn’t bring too many surprises. I’m expecting Ricky to post a clear and decisive points victory. Ricky Burns

Dave Murphy
A dangerous fight for Burns, who had a few rough moments and didn’t exactly look his best the last time out with unknown Jose Gonzalez before Gonzalez’s corner pulled him out with a “injury” (an injured wrist or was he spent, I don’t think we ever got a clear answer on that one). If Ricky fights like that he did that day, he’s going to get upset, but I think it was a combination of things, one being the unheralded nature of the undefeated opponent who proved to be as good as his record, and the other that he was perhaps looking past Gonzalez and toward the varied names that were being linked to his in higher profile possibilities. I think he learned from that experience, and while he always comes into the ring at 100% physically (which is how he eventually wore-down Gonzalez), I expect the mind will be more focused on the task at hand this time around.

At 32, Beltran probably has to know that the time from emerging from Pacquiao’s long shadow is drawing short and his recent upsets over Hank Lundy and Ji-Hoon Kim indicate a fighter who’s well aware that this might be his first and only shot at a world title before heading to the backside of his career. But even with the new motivation, this is still the same fighter who lost to lesser fighters than Ricky Burns when he’s stepped up in class before and I think the Lundy and Kim wins speak to flaws with those two (Lundy sometimes mails-it-in when he grows too cocky, and Kim gets insulted if you miss him with two punches in a row) as much as Raymond actually upping his game. I love Beltran’s new-found attitude, but frankly this is Ricky Burns fight to win or lose. I think he’ll stay focused throughout, not get careless, control the fight with his jab and keep firefights to a minimum, and in the end will be able to outpoint Beltran by a comfortable three or four point margin. Ricky Burns

David O’Rourke
Ricky comes into the fight with Beltran needing a strong performance after a below par showing against Jose A Gonzalez and concerns about the quality of opponent in his last couple of outings after fights with Vasquez and Broner failed to materialise as boxing fans had hoped. On paper Beltran should only offer Ricky a stiff challenge and he should win the fight comfortably, however I see Burns as a fading fighter who lacks confidence and is reluctant to test himself against the very best and for these reasons I have a feeling this could be the ends of the road for Ricky. Beltran UD. Raymundo Beltran

Scott Graveson

Beltran may be the most challenging fight Burns has had on paper since he faced Martinez. He’s on a great run, he’s experienced and proven on the fringes of world level though I think, like Kevin Mitchell the fringes of world level about his level and whilst Burns looked awful last time out he’s a world level fighter. Burns is growing into a more confident puncher but Beltran’s a tough guy and should see out the distance with out many problems but I can’t see him pushing Burns hard on the cards. Burns UD12. Ricky Burns

Daniel Norris
This is without a doubt Ricky Burns’ toughest test on paper. Raymundo Beltran is an extremely tough and battle tested veteran. Since coming back to boxing in 2010 Beltran’s career has been rejuvenated with the help of training at the famous Wild Card gym. Beltran has become a better fighter, a more well rounded fighter. He doesn’t do anything great, but everything he does is pretty good. And his record has shown improvement. Since 2010, Beltran is 6-2, and his two losses were highly debatable. Just one of those things where in boxing the veteran takes the young prospect to deep water. In a fair society Beltran would have gotten those two wins against Sharif Bogere and Luis Ramos Jr. But, instead he gotten chalked up with the close loss that “could have gone either way.”

Ricky Burns, meanwhile, is the champion, and has been a champion in two divisions for three plus years now. Burns is a legit fighter. He’s a world class boxer with a great jab that has carried him to world class status. In Burns’ last fight, though, he was really shaky. Burns fought lightly regarded undefeated Jose Gonzales and Gonzalez nearly made himself a name. He was beating Burns around and was up on the judges scorecards after nine rounds, but his corner had to pull him because of a wrist injury. Ricky Burns ended up getting a very, very lucky break and perhaps we’ll look at that fight as a warning sign of things to come. We’ll see.

All in all, this is a good fight and this is pretty much a 50/50 fight. This could go either way, and once you start thinking like that, you gotta go with the “name” fighter. The fighter that has the belt, the promoter, the hometown. Beltran is up against it in this spot and I’m picking Burns here. I’ll put it this way, If this was at a neutral site I’d back Raymundo Beltran. As it is, this is in Scotland – the hometown of Ricky Burns – and with that I’ve gotta back Burns here to win on points. I’ll take Burns to win via Split Decision. Ricky Burns

Robert Hunter
When this fight was first announced I thought Ricky is gonna take this one quite easy. Now, a few weeks before the fight nothing has changed. Beltran is a good fighter and is a genuine top 10 fighter at 135. My problem is that he gets hit too easy and has been beaten by guys that are not the caliber of Ricky Burns.

Styles make fights, This fight will be much more exciting than May’s Burns vs Gonzalez fight. Beltran can’t outbox Ricky so he will need to go to war to wrench the title away. For Beltran to win I think he needs to land that sweet left hook to the body. I believe he can hurt Ricky badly with that punch. Saying that though I expect Ricky to set a high work rate, spear the long jab and slashing rights at Beltran before gaining a late stoppage sometime around the 10th, maybe on cuts. Ricky Burns

Ian Ritchie
A lot of people are prematurely writing off Beltran’s chances, but personally, having seen him run both Bogere and Ramos Jr very close in his most recent losses, I think he’s going to make this a very tight contest.

Both fighters have a very good workrate so we could be in for a classic tearup and I put the gap in quality between them much closer than many predict.
Ricky goes into this fight as a slight favourite, given the momentum is with him at the moment, but he had a tough time in his last bout against Gonzalez in a fight he very easily could have lost.

I think Burns has to step it up significantly to have any chance at all of a comfortable victory. Both fighters have good chins and neither are renowned for their power punching, so the obvious outcome is a points decision, but I can’t see it being more than a point or two either way.

I have to back my fellow countryman and pick Burns to be the one coming out on top, particularly with the fight being in Glasgow, but I would not be at all surprised to see Beltran winning this. Ricky Burns

Kevin Davis
Ricky Burns, the WBO lightweight champion, is set to do battle with the tough and rugged Raymundo Beltran Saturday night. This fight is the tale of two styles, Burns like to depend on his range and use his jab to keep the distance. His only problem is that he fight in spots, which allows his opponents to take the lead while he rests and try to steal rounds.

Beltran likes to use an accumulation of punches to break his opponents will. He puts caution in the wind and will get into a fire fight. Beltran is strong and does have sharp punches, his activity will cause his to tire and his punches will be all over the place. Burns will need a lot of outside help like he had against Katsidis. he will need a 24×24 size ring, the ref breaking the fight as soon as Beltran tries to work on the inside, Burns can wear his waist guard extremely high, to protect against body shots. If he can get that I can see Burns winning this fight by robbery. Ricky Burns

George Jimenez
This is really a classic pick’em fight. On the one hand you have a guy like Burns who can box and on paper looks like the better fighter. On the other hand you have a guy like Beltran who is a rugged veteran who knows his window to become a champion is closing. My brain wants to pick Burns by decision but I am going with the underdog Beltran who is going to come from being behind on the cards to stopping Burns somewhere in rounds 9 -12! Burns will either tire in the later rounds or will get too comfortable after winning most of the early rounds and will get caught with something. Fun fight! Raymundo Beltran

Craig Simeon

As soon as I heard the fight against Beltran was announced I was positive that Burns would retain his world title & I still think that Beltran is a come forward fighter perfect for Burns boxing & move so my prediction is either Burns via late stoppage or wide ud Burns UD. Ricky Burns

Michael Readman
Wide UD Burns or late stoppage by either Beltrans corner or the ref.

Burns jab will dictate the early rounds as Beltran walks onto the Burns jab seemingly unfazed, mixed in with stinging body shots to wear down Beltran through the mid rounds stage.

Beltran will likely start to feel the accumulation of punches as the fight gets older, and although his heart will keep him upright, the referee or Beltran’s corner will be forced to call a halt to the proceedings probably in the championship rounds….

Failing the aforementioned, a wide UD for Rickster.

Clearly a warm up bout for a bigger fight up next on the Burns/Matchroom agenda, Stateside. Ricky Burns

Craig Johns
In Burns’ second outing on Sky Ray Beltran is the chosen opponent and while I know it is a big crime to look to closely at records and make a decision based on that, it is hard not to here. Burns has not lost in six year now whereas Beltran’s record reads six defeats. He has also never been further than ten rounds, making it difficult to see how he will be anything more than an opponent to make Burns look good after a disappointing Sky debut against Jose Gonzales. He does have 17 knockouts in 28 victories to suggest that Burns will have to be cautious of a big shot but Burns should have more than what is required to win the fight. An easy unanimous points victory for the hometown fighter is what I predict. Ricky Burns

Lee Skavydis

Burns by mid stoppage. Beltran has a tendency to wait too long to land decent shots and while that is happening Burns will keep the jab in his face and pick him off at will. The fact that Beltran does not mind taking a shot to give one will only mean that he will have no answer to Burns’ technical skills and will find himself bemused. Ricky Burns

Rebecca Pitt
Ricky burns next fight with Mexican Raymundo Beltran will be his 4th defense of his WBO light weight title and will be in for his toughest test since moving up to the 135lbs division, Burns wasn’t at his best last time out, and struggled with Jose Gonzalez, eventually turning the fight around after being hurt in the 7th round, his opponent retired with a wrist injury, refusing to come out for the 10th round and could this have been a potential loss for Burns as Gonzalez was 87-84 ahead on all 3 of the judges score cards, Burns says it was a rare off night having won 21 fights since his last loss, a Unanimous decision Vs Carl Johanneson over six years ago. Ricky needs to turn up mentally ready after his last performance and box intelligently with a high work rate to beat his tough and experienced opponent, he can’t afford to under perform, but if Ricky is at his best i feel he will be too clever and will out work and out box Gonzalez, possibly breaking Gonzalez down and stopping him, late. Ricky Burns to win by UD or late stoppage. Ricky Burns

Ryan Kinzett
I think Burns wins this one fairly comfortably. Burns is a tall fighter, who uses his height and reach advantages well. He likes to fight on the backfoot, using his movement, jab, and reach to good effect. Beltran is a smaller fighter than Burns and will struggle to get into the fight. He can box when he needs to but he generally likes to pressure his opponents and work on the inside. Burns will fight him on the outside, like he did to Michael Katsidis, and win a unanimous decision in my opinion. Ricky Burns

Geoff Booth
Beltran is on a roll right now, a career best really. Burns, who has never really been viewed as a top dog to begin with, looked quite vulnerable in his last outing. However, the venue for this fight, and cast of characters officiating may make for some interesting calls. In the end, barring some questionable call, I see Beltran winning, and winning big, probably by stoppage. Beltran TKO. Raymundo Beltran