Newcastle Oct 13th

So he's fighting Patera? Around the same sort of level he's been fighting already, which is fine.

A fight with Burns after would be good but please can we stop pretending beating Ritson would put Burns back at world level. His last 'clean' win was against Di Rocco, who isn't great. You've got to go years back before that before you find his last win at a real decent level. Burns is done near the top, has been for a while. You see what happened to Indongo when he stepped up to the world scene.

 

Not in the slightest. He's had an excellent career and can still get some fights in as a gatekeeper type - similar to what Price is going to become, if he isn't already - which is fine and is still relevant to some degree. He still has a following and Ritson is really gaining one, so it would make sense for both.

 

Not bad, at least he’s gone the distance with mendy, dodd and tatli

 

Comparing Burns to (David?) Price! Surely not. Their careers are not comparable in the slightest. Yes Ricky can go down the gatekeeper route if he likes but he is still capable of gatekeeping at world level rather than domestic.

 

I don't think he can. He lost clearly to Crolla, who isn't a world level fighter IMO. And he isn't going to suddenly get better.

 

A gatekeeper doesn't necessarily have to win his job is to separate the men from the boys.

 

I'm not convinced he can do that above British level anymore.

 

The thing is, it might not be 'bad' as you say, but as a headliner it's underwhelming.

Less than 2 years ago a regular Saturday Sky fight night in Liverpool (that I travelled down to from Newcastle) consisted of:

Bellew vs Flores (world title, albeit weak opponent)
Campbell vs Matthews (eagerly anticipated clash)
Burnett vs Farrag
Dodd vs Patera

Now, 2 years later, after losing a debatable decision against Dodd, somehow Patera is now considered main event material. So basically that Liverpool card had a 50/50 fight 4th down the card, a bit of an afterthought really, a card filler if you like. Now the same person is the main event in a 90/10 type of fight and that's being generous.

Obviously the Euro title so it is there is logic and it makes sense from that perspective, but for a genuine fight fan, not someone simply there to drink beer and sing 'toon toon' even if Ritson was fighting Jordan Ellison for a third time, that is a pretty weak headliner.

We've gone from the likes of Crolla-Perez, Quigg-Martinez on the same non PPV card or a world title with a final eliminator as chief support to a very non competitive main event in a couple of years where the opponent has had 6 weeks notice. Obviously the main emphasis is all on PPV these days as demonstrated by only having 5 (very modest) regular fight nights going into September, but this will be yet another underwhelming show. It's pretty much on my doorstep but I'm not going to bother with it.