Ricky Burns has warned Raymundo Beltran that he’s going to be at his very best when he defends his WBO World lightweight title at the SECC in Glasgow on September 7.
Beltran is Burns’ fourth defense of his crown and after surviving a stern test against Jose Gonzalez in May, the 31 year old is planning to put on a World class performance to prove the doubters wrong.
“I’ve watched the fight back a few times, I saw that I was trying to force the pace and I was getting caught with stupid punches that I shouldn’t have been taking,” said Burns. “For this training camp we’ve gone back to basics and although I’m prepared to get into a brawl against Beltran if I need to, I’m going to try to stick to my boxing skills. Preparation has been going great and with five weeks to go I cannot wait to get in there.”
Mexican Beltran enters the fight on the back of three wins and Burns knows he needs to dispose of the 32 year old in style to close in on the huge unification clashes that are on the horizon for the Coatbridge star.
“I am expecting a very tough fight,” said Burns. “He’s got a few losses on his CV but they are against top level opponents so we know what to expect, and he has not been a sparring partner to Manny Pacquiao for all these years for nothing. I’ve seen him fight before but since the fight was announced I haven’t watched anything of him, I’m just going to go out and stick to what I do best to get the win and then look at the big unification fights out there.
“I still have to go out and put in a good performance against Beltran to make them happen. I keep telling everybody that even though it’s been mentioned that I might fight in America at the start of next year, I am not looking at that, I know I have to take it one fight at a time. Raymundo is a great fighter, boxing fans know that and it’s going to be a great fight and the fans in the SECC in Glasgow are going to have a great night, and I’ll be putting in the type of performance that I should’ve done last time.”
Burns vs. Beltran tops a brilliant bill in Glasgow, with Olympic Gold medallist Luke Campbell MBE boxing for the second time as a pro and joined by John Simpson, Stephen Simmons, Scotty Cardle and David Brophy, with more names to be announced soon.
