It's almost laughable for anyone to accuse Ricky of ducking anyone when you consider that on his way up the ranks he showed perhaps the most ball of any prospect in recent years. He also was willing to go to Peurto Rico to fight Martinez, the most feared fighter at the weight.
I don't think anyone is accusing him of ducking Fana or anybody else inparticular. We just want to see him in a fight with someone half-decent, in a fight the result of which doesn't look a foregone conclusion before the bell sounds.
Khan fought Salita and Mallinagi after he won his title- both they fighs were foregone conclusions and both were on PPV Haye fought Ruiz and Harrison, both they fights were foregone conclusions and both were on PPV. Ricky has fought 2 lads that weren't up to much on his 2 defences but at least you didn't have to pay an extra £15 for the priviledge to line an already rich person's pockets.
Yeah, and Khan and Haye got shitloads of stick for taking those fights with Salita and Harrison, and rightly so (regardless of being PPV, they just weren't competitive fights). But if Ricky were to take on an opponent who was independently rated in his division as highly as either Ruiz (top 20 at HW I'd say) or Malignaggi (top 10 at LWW) were at the time of their fights, then I don't think anyone would give a stuff. You could say that HW and LWW weren't exactly loaded with talent at the time, but neither is SFW now. Ricky's had two easy defences so far, and that's more than enough. Is it too much to ask that he jump in ring with a top 20-type fighter in his next fight?
I dont see why the other, more established champions should have to travel to fight Burns. If he's serious about unifying the division, go to Japan, go to South Africa and win. Problem solved. Dont say ''well I'll have to fight abroad, so I'll just fight whoever they can find'', and then call yourself a 'champion'.