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Scotland’s top boxer on the world scene, Ricky Burns, will place his WBO lightweight crown at risk this Saturday night against popular London icon Kevin Mitchell at the Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow, Scotland.
27 year old Dagenham resident Mitchell, 33-1 (24), hasn’t boxed north of the border since 2005 and this will be his sternest test since losing a three round brawl for the Interim WBO belt to Aussie slugger Michael Katsidis on home ground two years ago.
While this is a massive domestic clash and the biggest fight of Mitchell’s career, 29 year old Coatsbridge man Burns, 34-2 (9), will be seeing his sixth world title bout, in which he has gone 6-0.
Two years ago Burns stunned the Boxing world when he pulled off a massive upset of WBO super feather king Roman Martinez and “The Rickster” also holds wins over Katsidis and most recently outpointed former WBA champ Paulus Moses to capture the WBO lightweight strap.
Mitchell holds an excellent win over John Murray since the Katsidis loss but he will see a very different type of opponent in Burns, a slippery boxer who can get in and get gritty if the occasion calls for it.
Expect Mitchell to pressure the champion and try to wear down Burns but the Scotsman is unlikely to get drawn into a brawl. If Mitchell can’t cut off the ring and force Burns into a war, he will likely return home to London without the WBO title.
On the undercard, John Simpson, 23-9 (10), and Dai Davies, 9-18-2 (1), face off for the Celtic super feather strap and former longtime WBO featherweight king Scott Harrison, 26-2-2 (15), continues his comeback after a seven year absence, meeting Miguel Aquilar, 10-4 (5), at lightweight.
