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WBO super feather beltholder Ricky Burns held onto his title on Saturday night in a victory over challenger Joseph Laryea at Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
Scotsman Burns was making the second defense of the crown he won in impressive fashion from Rocky Martinez last Autumn.
Laryea, coming into the contest with a 13-5 CV and having lost to every opponent to date that had a winning record with the exception of his previous contest against Paul Appleby for the WBO Intercontinental belt, was clearly in over his head.
Burns wasted no time in displaying his superior abilities, starting to hurt his Ghanaian rival as early as the second round. The one-sided contest continued into the third but Laryea managed to turn things around in the fourth, taking the round.
But the African import couldn’t maintain his edge as Burns adjusted and regained control in the next frame, pouring it on by the seventh, a session in which Laryea was starting to falter.
The challenger failed to come out for the eighth after suffering a broken knuckle on the right hand, losing the bout by RTD 7.
Burns improves to 31-2 (8), while Laryea drops to 14-5 (11).
On the undercard, the previously mentioned Appleby, 17-2 (11), posted a six round decision over Yousef Al Hamidi, 8-31-2 (1), at super feather while British super middle champ James DeGale, 10-0 (8), stopped Alpay Kobal, 7-13-2 (5), in the fifth during a non-title affair at light heavyweight.
