By Niall Doran
I have to say I’m really looking forward to a weekend of watching boxing this weekend between the US action, the James De Gale card in the UK and of course the big Matchroom card in Glasgow tomorrow. The most interesting bout for me this weekend though will be Ricky Burns vs Terence Crawford for the WBO lightweight strap.
Crawford
The American Crawford comes into this one with a big reputation for good reason it seems too as a lot of the bookmakers having installed the challenger as a favourite. After watching some of his interviews during the week he strikes me as a very ominous challenger for Burns as he doesn’t seem to want to engage in much verbals at all and is content to concentrate purely on business and the task at hand. The old saying of its the quiet guys you need to watch out for springs to mind.
Crawford at 22-0 (16KOs) has a very impressive record for sure and at 26 will enjoy a 4 year youth advantage over the champion. The only name that stands out on his record really though thus far is Bredis Prescott whom he beat by unanimous decision last year. He’ll also be giving a fair bit away in world level experience though as opponent finds himself in his 9th world title fight tomorrow.
The Champion
Burns comes into this one probably in the worst form of his career to be fair and will have big points to prove. He’s always been a man who’s relished the underdog role and perhaps this could play into his favour here again.
The big question for me is how will Ricky be mentally tomorrow night having had to contend with various legal battles and outside the ring goings on in the last year or so. Without going into detail he has had to put up with quite a lot of it too it would seem, at least from the outside.
My Gut Feeling
I hear that he has gotten top class sparring from Kevin Mitchell in the run up to this one with Mitchell himself saying Burns is in incredible shape after battling with him in the gym recently.
I think when Ricky Burns’ back is against the wall is when he’s at his best. I’m not saying its going to be easy and it could only have a couple of rounds in it, but I just think Burns will pull out the points victory tomorrow night.
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