🥊 Ricky Burns ‘Seeks Closure’ on a Card with a Father/Son Duo

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Ricky Burns stands as one of the greatest boxers spawned in Scotland, not on the same level as Hall of Famers Benny Lynch and Ken Buchanan, but arguably on par with Jim Watt and Josh Taylor. As the first fighter from Scotland to win world titles in three weight classes, his legacy is secure.

But Burns, who turned 40 in April, isn’t yet content to rest on his laurels. He returns to the ring on Friday in his native Glasgow with another Glasgow greybeard, Willie Limond, in the opposite corner.

Burns captured his first world title in 2010 as a super featherweight, getting off the deck to upend previously undefeated Roman “Rocky” Martinez in a rousing performance that ranks among the most memorable by a Scotsman in a Glasgow ring. He won the WBO lightweight title the following year and added the vacant WBA 140-pound title in 2016, turning away Italian campaigner Michele Di Rocco.

Di Rocco, 40-1-1 heading in, was hardly as good as his record, but Burns’ triumph was of the nature of an upset. Burns was 3-3-1 in his previous seven which included a gift draw vs Raymundo Beltran and a loss on points to Terence Crawford.

In hindsight, his loss to the brilliant Crawford actually reflects well on him. He took the future pound-for-pound king the distance in a 12-round fight and won a few rounds.

Burns, who was motivated to take up boxing at age 12 after watching “Rocky” movies, insists that Friday’s match will be his final rodeo. “I am getting grief off my family [about fighting again] but have promised them this is going to be my last one,” he told Tyrone Smith of BBB Scotland Sport.

Burns last fought in December of 2021, outpointing Argentina’s Emiliano Dominguez in England. He last fought in Glasgow in March of 2017 when he was shorn of his super lightweight belt in a unification fight with Julius Indongo who won a wide decision.

“It has knawed on him for some time that he never really got to enjoy a proper farewell performance in front of the Scottish fans who provided the soundtrack to the greatest nights of his career,” noted Graeme Macpherson in the (Glasgow) Herald.

Burns sports a record of 44-8-1 (16 KOs). Willie Limond has a near-identical record: 42-5 (13). However, Limond, 44, is older than Burns and he has been even less active. He’s fought only three times since getting stopped in nine frames by Tyrone Nurse in 2016 and none of those bouts were slated for more than six rounds.

A former British and Commonwealth title-holder who has shared the ring with the likes of Amir Khan and Erik Morales, Limond won his first domestic title as a super featherweight. In his last outing in May of last year, he carried 168 pounds, but he bristles at the suggestion that his match with Burns is nothing more than a glorified sparring session between old friends. “I don’t like to lose at anything,” he says. “I don’t even like to lose a coin toss.”

Limond concedes, however, that there’s a fair chance he will gas out. Burns vs Limond is slated for 12 rounds in the welterweight class.

While Limond figures to lose, another Limond figures to uphold the family honor. Willie’s 19-year-old son Jake Limond is on the card in a 6-round welterweight contest. Jake is currently being trained by former world lightweight title-holder Anthony Crolla who defeated his dad in a British lightweight title fight back in 2011.

Fighting the usual suspects (i.e., professional losers), the younger Limond, a welterweight, is 4-0. “He’s more advanced than I was his age,” says the proud papa.

During his long pro career, Ricky Burns has answered the bell for 414 rounds. That puts him at risk of entering his sunset years with neurological deficits that will burden his loved ones.

By and large, the best boxers – and we put Ricky Burns in that category – retire several times before their final farewell. Hopefully Ricky Burns, who recently passed the exam for a professional boxing trainer’s license, will be a man of his word and call it quits after Friday night. We wish him well on Friday and in his future endeavors.

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International Brotherhood of Prizefighters Rankings: Week of August 27, 2023

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International Brotherhood of Prizefighters Rankings: Week of August 27, 2023

Heavyweight Oleksander Usyk successfully defended his lineal title and extended his record to 21-0 with a ninth round stoppage. Daniel Dubois falls to 19-2. Usyk also retains the third slot in boxing’s best pound for pound category. At 108, Mexico’s Mario Gutierrez drops to number 11, and is overtaken by Miel Fajardo for the tenth slot in the division.

*Please note that when the fighter’s name appears with an asterisk it represents a movement in ranking from the previous week.

105lbs

World Title Holder: Vacant

1 Thammanoon Niyomtrong (Knockout CP Freshmart) (Thailand)

2 Panya Pradabsri (Petchmanee CP Freshmart) (Thailand)

3 Oscar Collazo (USA)

4 Ginjiro Shigeoka (Japan)

5 Daniel Valladares (Mexico)

6 Yudai Shigeoka (Japan)

7 Melvin Jerusalem (Philippines)

8 Masataka Taniguchi (Japan)

9 Rene Mark Cuarto (Philippines)

10 Yudai Shigeoka (Philippines)

108lbs

World Title Holder: Kenshiro Teraji (Japan)

1 Jonathan Gonzalez (Puerto Rico)

2 Masamichi Yabuki (Japan)

3 Sivenathi Nontshinga (South Africa)

4 Hekkie Budler (South Africa)

5 Elwin Soto (Mexico)

6 Regie Suganob (Philippines)

7 Shokichi Iwata (Japan)

8 Carlos Canizales (Venezuela)

9 Daniel Matellon (Panama)

10 Miel Fajardo (Philippines)

112lbs

World Title Holder: Vacant

1 Sunny Edwards (England)

2 Artem Dalakian (Ukraine)

3 Julio Cesar Martinez (Mexico)

4 Angel Ayala Lardizabal (Mexico)

5 David Jimenez (Costa Rica)

6 Jesse Rodriguez (USA)

7 Ricardo Sandoval (USA)

8 Felix Alvarado (Nicaragua)

9 Seigo Yuri Akui (Japan)

10 Taku Kuwahara (Japan)

115lbs

World Title Holder: Juan Francisco Estrada (Mexico)

1 Roman Gonzalez (Nicaragua)

2 Kazuto Ioka (Japan)

3 Fernando Martinez (Argentina)

4 Junto Nakatani (Japan)

5 Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (Thailand)

6 Kosei Tanaka (Japan)

7 Andrew Moloney (Australia)

8 Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (Mexico)

9 Pedro Guevara (Mexico)

10 Donnie Nietes (Philippines)

118lbs

World Title Holder: Vacant

1 Emmanuel Rodriguez (Puerto Rico)

2 Alexandro Santiago (Mexico)

3 Jason Moloney (Australia)

4 Vincent Astrolabio (Philippines)

5 Gary Antonio Russell (USA)

6 Takuma Inoue (Japan)

7 Nonito Donaire (Philippines)

8 Ryosuke Nishida (Japan)

9 Keita Kurihara (Japan)

10 Paul Butler (England)

122lbs

World Title Holder: Vacant

1 Naoya Inoue (Japan)

2 Marlon Tapales (Philippines)

3 Stephen Fulton (USA)

4 Luis Nery (Mexico)

5 Murodjon Akhmadaliev (Uzbekistan)

6 Sam Goodman (Australia)

7 Azat Hovhannisyan (Armenia)

8 Kevin Gonzalez (Mexico)

9 Ra’eese Aleem (USA)

10 Liam Davies (England)

126lbs

World Title Holder: Vacant

1 Luis Alberto Lopez (Mexico)

2 Leigh Wood (England)

3 Brandon Figueroa (USA)

4 Rey Vargas (Mexico)

5 Mauricio Lara (Mexico)

6 Robeisy Ramirez (Cuba)

7 Mark Magsayo (Philippines)

8 Josh Warrington (England)

9 Reiya Abe (Japan)

10 Otabek Kholmatov (Uzbekistan)

130lbs

World Title Holder: Vacant

1 Emanuel Navarrete (Mexico)

2 Joe Cordina (Wales)

3 Hector Garcia (Dominican Republic)

4 O’Shaquie Foster (USA)

5 Oscar Valdez (Mexico)

6 Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (Tajikistan)

7 Otar Eranosyan (Georgia)

8 Lamont Roach (USA)

9 Eduardo Ramirez (Mexico)

10 Kenichi Ogawa (Japan)

135lbs

World Title Holder: Devin Haney (USA)

1 Gervonta Davis (USA)

2 Vasily Lomachenko (Ukraine)

3 Isaac Cruz (Mexico)

4 William Zepeda Segura (Mexico)

5 Frank Martin (USA)

6 Shakur Stevenson (USA)

7 Maxi Hughes (England)

8 George Kambosos Jr (Australia)

9 Keyshawn Davis (USA)

10 Raymond Muratalla (USA)

140lbs

World Title Holder: Teofimo Lopez (USA)

1 Regis Prograis (USA)

2 Jose Ramirez (USA)

3 Jose Zepeda (USA)

4 Jack Catterall (England)

5 Subriel Matias (Puerto Rico)

6 Arnold Barboza Jr. (USA)

7 Gary Antuanne Russell (USA)

8 Zhankosh Turarov (Kazakhstan)

9 Elvis Rodriguez (Dominican Republic)

10 Josh Taylor (Scotland)

147lbs

World Title Holder: Terence Crawford (USA)

1 Errol Spence (USA)

2 Jaron Ennis (USA)

3 David Avanesyan (Russia)

4 Cody Crowley (Canada)

5 Alexis Rocha (USA)

6 Rashidi Ellis (USA)

7 Souleymane Cissokho (Senegal)

8 Roiman Villa (Venezuela)

9 Egidijus Kavaliauskas (Lithuania)

10 Shakhram Giyasov (Uzbekistan)

154lbs

World Title Holder: Jermell Charlo (USA)

1 Tim Tszyu (Australia)

2 Brian Mendoza (USA)

3 Jesus Alejandro Ramos (USA)

4 Sebastian Fundora (USA)

5 Erickson Lubin (USA)

6 Michel Soro (Ivory Coast)

7 Magomed Kurbanov (Russia)

8 Tony Harrison (USA)

9 Israil Madrimov (Uzbekistan)

10 Bakhram Murtazaliev (Russia)

160lbs

World Title Holder: Vacant

1 Gennady Golovkin (Kazakhstan)

2 Carlos Adames (Dominican Republic)

3 Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (Kazakhstan)

4 Liam Smith (England)

5 Sergiy Derevyanchenko (Ukraine)

6 Vincenzo Gualtieri (German)

7 Felix Cash (England)

8 Chris Eubank Jnr. (England)

9 Michael Zerafa (Australia)

10 Esquiva Falcao (Brazil)

168lbs

World Title Holder: Canelo Alvarez (Mexico)

1 David Benavidez (USA)

2 Caleb Plant (USA)

3 Christian Mbilli (France)

4 David Morrell (Cuba)

5 John Ryder (England)

6 Pavel Silyagin (Russia)

7 Vladimir Shishkin (Russia)

8 Carlos Gongora (Ecuador)

9 Jaime Munguia (Mexico)

10 Demetrius Andrade (USA)

175lbs

World Title Holder: Artur Beterbiev (Canada)

1 Dmitry Bivol (Russia)

2 Joshua Buatsi (England)

3 Callum Smith (England)

4 Joe Smith Jr. (USA)

5 Gilberto Ramirez (Mexico)

6 Anthony Yarde (England)

7 Dan Azeez (England)

8 Ali Izmailov (Russia)

9 Michael Eifert (German)

10 Igor Mikhalkin (Germany)

200lbs

World Title Holder: Jai Opetaia (Australia)

1 Mairis Breidis (Latvia)

2 Chris Billam-Smith (England)

3 Richard Riakporhe (England)

4 Aleksei Papin (Russia)

5 Badou Jack (Sweden)

6 Arsen Goulamirian (France)

7 Lawrence Okolie (England)

8 Yuniel Dorticos (Cuba)

9 Mateusz Masternak (Poland)

10 Ilunga Makabu (So. Africa)

Unlimited

World Title Holder: Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine)

1 Tyson Fury (England)

2 Zhilei Zhang (China)

3 Deontay Wilder (USA)

4 Anthony Joshua (England)

5 Filip Hrgovic (Croatia)

6 Andy Ruiz (USA)

7 Joe Joyce (England)

8 Arslanbek Makhmudov (Russia)

9 Frank Sanchez (Cuba)

10 Luis Ortiz (USA)

Pound-for-Pound

01 – Terence Crawford

02 – Naoya Inoue

03 – Oleksandr Usyk

04 – Juan Francisco Estrada

05 – Dmitry Bivol

06 – Tyson Fury

07 – Canelo Alvarez

08 – Artur Beterbiev

09 – Teofimo Lopez

10 – Shakur Stevenson

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A masterful storyteller, Lance Pugmire spent nearly two decades covering sports for the Los Angeles Times. He is the most-recent recipient of the prestigious Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism which is presented annually by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Trustworthy is just one reason why Pugmire has had a successful sports writing career.

“I’d like to think of myself as the type of reporter that the athletes, no matter how high profile they became in their career, they could trust me completely, and that they knew that, yes, I am on the quest for the truth, but I’m also going to allow them to speak their truth while delivering it the way they wanted it delivered,” he said.

Pugmire spoke about the trust Saul “Canelo” Alvarez had in him while Canelo was training for a fight several years ago.

“One time I went to San Diego and Alvarez gave me an interview in English, and I like to think I was the first reporter he spoke to in English,” he said of the boxer who will meet Jermell Charlo on September 30.

Pugmire also built a rapport with Miguel Cotto who had two big matches with Antonio Margarito.

Margarito was accused of using loaded hand-wraps on more than one occasion including his first meeting with Cotto and had his license revoked for one year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

“I was able to do a lot of reporting on loaded gloves,” Pugmire noted. “When I spoke to Cotto,” he said to me, “he knows about the hand wraps. I will get revenge for this. When he fought him at Madison Square Garden [December 2011] in front of all his people, that was one of the more emotional fights that I covered.” (After Cotto lost to Margarito in July 2008 in Las Vegas via eleventh-round technical knockout, Cotto came back and earned a ninth-round stoppage in the rematch).

While Pugmire is straightforward in his dealings with the men in the ring, so too are they honest with him.

“I’ve always had a soft spot for them. Boxers are always an open book on every level. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Tyson Fury or some young prospect on his way up,” he pointed out. “There’s not a lot of publicists in their ear saying, ‘don’t talk about this and don’t talk about that.’ They always give you their truth and then you report it as you see fit. As a reporter we like to know that it’s not scripted or sugar coated and that’s what I like about boxers.”

Pugmire began his career in 1999 at the Times Inland Valley office. He covered the 2000 Shane Mosley-Oscar De La Hoya fight as a round-by-round reporter and became a full-time boxing writer in 2007 with the Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez tussle.

Pugmire enjoyed his tenure at the Times, but felt a tugging to try something different.

“I absolutely loved my 19 years at the Los Angeles Times – so many amazing experiences and unforgettable stories that we nailed,” he said. “I’ve always sought to continue challenging myself. Because of my earnings there and The Athletic, I was able to experience real estate investment, which led me to a new career that is still all about learning people’s stories and helping them reach a better place. Not ever taking myself out of my comfort zone would have been my ultimate regret.”

To this end, Pugmire recently moved into a career selling high-end property for Seven Gables Real Estate/MX Associates in Huntington Beach after nearly two decades at the Los Angeles Times.

While boxing doesn’t hold sway like it once did, there are weekends when the sport is still important, such as the night Crawford faced Spence at T-Mobile Arena.

“The powers that be who run boxing know that staging these great fights is the best thing for the sport’s future. So, when we can get these fights, everybody knows this is the fight that should be happening,” Pugmire noted. “Then boxing still has the ability to capture the mainstream sports fans and get complete attention on that Saturday fight night. That is still the great thing about boxing. Boxing will never die as long as it is giving fans that moment.”

Crawford-Spence turned out to be lopsided in favor of Crawford who won on a ninth-round stoppage, notes Pugmire, but it still created significant buzz because it did take place after a lot of earlier wrangling.

“When Spence said, ‘Unless you’re going to bring me a Crawford fight, I’m not going to fight,” he [he showed that he] understands what this sport is about…For Spence, he believed I’m the naturally bigger man, I am the more skilled man, and I can win this fight. As tough as Crawford is and an undefeated three-division champion, we all know Terence is one of the great finishers of this generation. For Spence to take on this fight, he has to be given a lot of credit.”

Boxing will always have a place in the sun even if it’s not at the top of the food chain.

“To me, there’s no better example, so let’s just go global,” Pugmire said. “Manny Pacquiao sold rice on the streets so he and his family could eat. If it wasn’t for boxing, what would have become of Pacquiao? This is someone who, with his money, with his power, is elevated to political office and is doing everything that he can to help his fellow humans in the Philippines escape the ravages of poverty. We all know this [boxing] isn’t good for someone’s health. Absolutely not.”

Pugmire was able to cozy up to Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., who were two very opposite personalities.

“The creativity and the power that we saw from Pacquiao as he moved through these divisions was such an impressive thing to cover. Same thing with Mayweather. His defensive acumen and his brilliance of being able to figure out whatever opponent was set before him. Even if it was to his advantage to handpick guys like a 23-year-old Alvarez or an over-the-hill Oscar De La Hoya,” he said. “The fact is that he did it. [We all who covered Floyd’s career] know that there were many tough fights against guys like Jose Luis Castillo that he took that were 50-50 endeavors, and even his fight against Marcos Maidana, that was a tough task. He found a way to get the victory. He fought Cotto and Juan Manuel Marquez. The guy deserves to be credited. In my eyes, it’s not a sin how he handled his career.”

The May 2015 bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather was a dud in terms of entertainment, but an immense money-maker.

Pugmire recalls being inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena that evening.

“To me, when I see these two guys, I always go back to that moment when I looked up right before the first bell rang and they were both bouncing in each other’s corner right before it went down,” he recalled. “Wow, it was one of the most electric moments that I can ever remember.”

Pugmire no longer covers boxing full-time but still keeps track of the sport. As a contributor to the boxing website ppv.com, he covered the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia battle and the Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr. showdown.

He’s honored that the Boxing Writers Association of America deemed his block of work worthy of being included with the best writers to have spent time ringside.

“The thing that really struck me after looking at the past winners was who had won the Fleischer before me and how deeply I’ve been influenced by past winners,” he said. “Growing up in Phoenix, I read Norm Frauenheim in grade school. When I moved to Orange County to go to college [majoring in communications with an emphasis in journalism] at Cal State Fullerton, I read Mark Whicker. My sports editor at the Los Angeles Times that brought me downtown from a satellite office in Ontario was Bill Dwyer. I’m very close to Dan Rafael.”

Pugmire then spoke about the obligation all reporters have.

“These guys were never beholden to any particular side. They were not shills. They spoke their truth. They were obligated to the readers,” he said. “I was there to tell the truth and I do love the sport and I was there to communicate what their stories were in the most truthful, elegant and dignified way that I could. That enough people on this committee noticed my work is a great honor. They said, ‘You belong among us.’”

And now he does.

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For several rounds it seemed Ireland’s undefeated Callum Walsh was faced with his toughest foe in Juan Jose Velasco, but then the Argentine suddenly retired in the corner with a whimper on Saturday.

Walsh was apologetic about the confused ending.

“He quit. So sorry,” said Walsh to the crowd.

Still, Walsh (8-0, 7 KOs) the middleweight from Cork, Ireland dazzled the crowd at Commerce Casino with an engaging battle against Velasco (24-5, 15 KOs) on the main event of the 360 Boxing Promotions card. The only thing missing was a man down.

Not in the main event.

Velasco, who formerly fought super lightweight world champion Regis Prograis, showed his veteran skills in absorbing the massive shots from young Walsh. For three rounds the Irish fighter unloaded big blows. During one exchange it was clear Velasco was stunned.

The Argentine fighter erupted in the third round with his own volley of blows. After assessing the young fighter’s power, he decided to go on attack and both fighters connected simultaneously and glared at each other.

Finally, it looked like a real competition.

In the fourth round both fighters dove in for attack and heads clashed. Velasco went down from the collision. Referee Ed Hernandez accurately ruled no knockdown. The fight resumed with Walsh in full attack mode and Velasco looking for an opening to deliver a right hand blast against the southpaw. It did not occur.

Suddenly, the referee visited Velasco’s corner at the end of the round and turned around to signal to the crowd and Walsh’s corner that the fight was over. Walsh was ruled the winner at the end of the fourth round by knockout.

“I want to apologize. It was out of my control,” said Walsh to the crowd about the sudden stoppage. “He quit. We were just getting into it.”

Welterweights

Armenia’s Gor Yeritsyan (16-0, 14 KOs) needed less than three rounds to blast out Philippine’s Rogelio Doliguez (25-5-2) with two body shots that left him unable to beat the count at 24 seconds into the second round of the welterweight match.

Over-the-weight contest

Austria’s Umar Dzambekov (7-0, 6 KOs) was forced to accept overweight Peru’s David Zegarra (35-11-1) who weighed more than 15 pounds over the accepted 175-pound limit. No matter, Dzambekov punished the pudgy Peruvian dropping him twice in the first round before referee Jack Reiss stopped the blowout at 1:59 of the second round.

Super Featherweights

Oxnard’s Arnold Alejandro (12-1, 10 KOs) won an extremely competitive super featherweight clash over Compton’s Adan Ochoa (12-4, 5 KOs) by split decision after eight rounds. All three judges scores were vastly different with two scores favoring Alejandro 80-72 and 77-75. A third judge saw Ochoa 80-72.

It was a back-and-forth contest that saw both fighters make adjustments throughout the eight rounds.

Other Bouts

Riverside’s Daniel “Chucky” Barrera (4-0-1, 3 KOs) was matched against highly experience Gilberto Mendoza (19-16-4) of Modesto and cooly out-fought the veteran behind a stiff left jab and excellent defense. Each round was competitive. After six rounds all three judges scored it 60-54 for Barrera.

Female flyweight Gloria Munguilla (5-0) proved too accurate for Florida’s Shawna Ormsby (0-2-1) after five rounds. Though Ormsby was busy she couldn’t match Munguilla’s accuracy and defense. All three judges scored it for Munguilla 50-45.

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Emmanuel Rodriguez Storms Past Melvin Lopez in the Featured Bout on Showtime

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