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In a stunning turn of events, Ricky Burns kept his WBO lightweight title tonight when challenger Jose Gonzalez quit on his stool before the tenth round, citing a possible broken left wrist in a fight in which he had been winning at Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
Aside from the previous two frames, the previously unbeaten Gonzalez had been in control of the contest, absolutely battering Burns on several occasions in the seventh round; it was remarkable that the Scot never went down after getting caught flush by such a powerful puncher.
Burns, 36-2 (10), even managed to hurt Gonzalez, 22-1 (17), a couple of times in the seventh but was lucky to finish the frame on his feet.
Gonzalez was oddly inactive in the eighth and ninth, likely as a result of the injury, skipping away from Burns but taking punishment from the champion whenever they came to grips.
The Puerto Rican KO artist could also have lost confidence as he wasn’t used to opponents managing to survive his bombardments and that, coupled with the injury, probably tells the story of his failure to continue.
By the midway point in the fight, Burns was looking like a soon to be ex-champion as Gonzalez was masterfully controlling the pace of the fight and the distance in which it was being waged completely to his advantage.
The only highlight for Burns up to that point was the fourth round, which finally witnessed his catching Gonzalez with a couple of good shots.
The normally forward marching Gonzalez fought against type tonight, giving ground and causing Burns into the unexpected role of aggressor, where he was reaching with left jabs and right hands that rarely found their mark.
Gonzalez simply pulled back from the punches and rocked the champion with crisp counters that bloodied the nose of Burns by the third.
Right from the first round it was clear that Burns was going to have a tough time as Gonzalez displayed superb skills, ring generalship and substantial power in both hands.
With the nature of the bout’s ending, Team Gonzalez could call for a rematch but it would not be surprising if Team Burns declined.
There were two lesser title bouts on the bill in Glasgow.
Former British and Commonwealth featherweight champion John Simpson, 25-9 (11), securing the vacant WBO International super feather strap with a hard fought 117-112, 116-113, 116-112 UD against seasoned campaigner Choi Tseveenpurev, 36-7 (24).
Cruiserweight Stephen Simmons, 8-0 (4), won the vacant Celtic crown when opponent Michael Sweeney, 12-3-1 (6), withdrew in the third with an injury.
