Burns, 30(7) 2(0) 0, will defend his WBO Super Featherweight title on March 12th, in Glasgow, Scotland against Joseph Laryea, 14(11) 4(1) 0. Don't know much at all about Laryea. Do you guys think it'll be a tough nights work for Burns? Laryea is meant to be a tough opponent and could cause some problems for Burns. Laryea has also been quoted to say ''I'll kill him'' ahead of this fight, so there may possibly be some banter ahead of this one. One for the predictions league Hut?
Laryea beat Appleby in his last fight (though watching it in the arena I felt Appleby won (but then Im a bit of an Appleby fan (beautiful footwork) & I was standing in amongst a bunch of Appleby's mates (how many parenthesis can you stand?))), while looking crude but very, very physically strong & with a piston like jab. Im not a very great fan of Burns, at all, but I'd be very surprised & disappointed if he didn't win this. From a gambling perspective though I think there might be money to be made here since Burns is 1/100 on, yet only 5/4 to win by decision, which I'd consider the most likely outcome. Meanwhile Laryea is 20-1 to win by stoppage, which for such a physically strong looking guy seems worth a quid.
Pretty much, although there seems to be a tremendous effort being put forth to have him face the most obscure competition possible. Not sure if Eloy Perez will get to him - he's slated for a title eliminator, but Jandaeng might receive the title shot first. It's possible that Jandaeng trades in one mandatory ranking for another and instead faces Takahiro Aoh. I'd assume Burns is the more winnable fight, though Aoh might represent the bigger payday (and fairer chance of winning a decision on the road). In that case, I'd take Perez over Burns without hesitation. All of this is my way of saying that I don't see Burns losing on March 12. Laryea is extremely poor as far as contenders go.
Burns beat one of the worst world champs in living memory, and if I rightly recall, that WBO 130lb title has been bouncing around from billy to jack since Freitas won it in 1999 or whatever. Its perfectly reasonable for them to want to milk Burns brief tenure and get him a nest egg, and its not like they have declared the lad to be pfp or ppv material. Lets see what happens here and then hope they step it up for the next one...if Burns wins.
All 130 belts have been bounced around between mediocre fighters to put it nicely. It´s by far the worst division in boxing right now.
