Boxing News Boxing News
British Super Featherweight Champion Carl Johanneson has declared Leeds Town Hall as his home turf and vows to destroy sharply skilled challenger Ricky Burns when the two meet this Friday, 9 February for a scheduled twelve round championship contest.
Johanneson, 25-2 (18), honed his ferocious assault type style of fighting in the gyms of America where he spent the first four years of his professional career, sparring the likes of world champions Acelino Freitas and Frankie Toldeo.
Since returning to the UK, the former British Army soldier and three time ABA Champion has won
ten of his eleven bouts and none of Johanneson’s victims have made it past the ninth round. Most recently the Leeds based brawler ruthlessly stopped Femi Fehintola in the sixth round this past November.
Ricky Burns of Coatsbridge, Scotland, has a similar record and style to that of Fehintola and will be hard pressed to keep the mauling Johanneson at bay, a feat that no British fighter has accomplished to date.
But Burns, 15-1 (3), has already gone into the proverbial lion’s den. The 23 year old Scot went up a weight class two years ago and shocked reigning British Lightweight Champion Graham Earl with a wide points victory and in 2006 gave European, Commonwealth and British 130 lb Champion Alex Arthur all that he could handle in a loss.
Burns specializes in making opponents look bad and that is something that Johanneson can ill afford if he is to fulfill his ambitions of winning the Lonsdale Belt and challenging Alex Arthur later
this year.
Frank Maloney Promotions presents Enemy Invasion featuring Carl Johanneson vs. Ricky Burns for the Super Featherweight Championship of Britain at Town Hall in Leeds, England on Friday, 9 February. Tickets are available by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office 0871 2261508. Sky TV will broadcast the card live on SS1 at 22:00.
