WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns wanted to unify the lightweight titles, but those plans should be on hold.
Burns scored a bizarre TKO win over mandatory challenger Jose Gonzalez, when a wrist injury prevented the challenger from answering the bell for the 10th round.
Before Burns goes after IBF champion Richar Abril or WBA king Miguel Vazquez, he should rematch Gonzalez. Should we expect to see that happen?
Absolutely not.
This was a tough fight against a hard-punching, awkward fighter. No one will be lining up to face Gonzalez after this fight—especially not Burns.
But it would be nice to see him prove he could defeat Gonzalez without an injury playing a role. Even beyond that, we must now question whether Burns has what it takes to take down the likes of Abril and Vazquez.
He was behind on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage, per BoxRec.com. He was also hurt a few times during the fight. In a post-fight interview, Tom Gray of Ring Magazine reports that Burns said:
"He did hurt me in round seven but he was under pressure. The volume of his punches was beginning to drop and I was going to close fast."
The part about being hurt seemed true, as was the mention of Gonzalez's declining punch output. However, I'm not sure how quickly Burns would have closed were it not for Gonzalez's injury.
Both men did appear tired, and Burns seemed to be the fresher of the two. But with only three rounds remaining, he would have needed a knockdown or knockout to win.
Even if he swept the final three rounds, the fight would have been a draw.
No fighter is going to give back a win, but there is no way Burns can feel as though he is undoubtedly the better man.
A rematch wouldn't draw much attention from anyone beyond hardcore fans, but it would be fun to see.
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