Ricky Burns to vacate and move to lightweight

Billy, you conveniently ignore every rational post that points out a contradiction in what you’re saying. If Burns was struggling with the weight (and it cannot have happened overnight) then 1) why was it never mentioned before? 2) Why did Ricky, Frank and you accept such appalling, meaningless “defences” knowing time was running out and you could have made the Fana fight?

There is no excuse for the quality of Ricky’s opposition since Martinez. And there’s no excuse for legging it up to 135 as soon as a decent fighter was on the landscape that you couldn’t avoid.

You have to accept why people are dubious over your reasons. Your behaviour the last 12 months has made it hard to take you seriously. Ricky’s just pissed away a real chance of a defining fight for, what appears to be, a combination of bad management or wilful risk-aversion.

 

Agree completely. :deal

 

Billy your a clown if you actually read my post I have given you credit by explaining to dunky that you are not that stupid to spar Mitchel so soon if there is a chance of boxing him but you so far up your self you never seen this you clown no wonder everyone on hear thinks your a arsehole billy . now facts are fact you where the one shouting your mouth of about how good Ricky was NOT once did you say he toiling for the weight

 

:deal

 

What you need to ralise dftaylor is:

1.Its none of you buisness whatsoever what weight Ricky is or isnt,its called confidentiality mate.
2.Would you like me to put Ricky against someone weight drained and not 100%? What if he got stopped with say a body shot you would be the first to say hes weight drained hes a Lightweight,so its sods law mate i will do whats best for him. Ricky wants to fight the best and he will do but only i repeat only 100%.:thumbsup

 

I will tell you the truth mate ,we sparred Kevin in London no problem cracking lad kevin by the way and Jimmy Tibbs not me decided because both may meet at some stage he didnt want Kevin sparring Ricky again,i understand his thinking but its not my way of thinking,to be the best spar with the best thats available imo.Why shouldn't we spar?away to work get your reply Sat:good

 

So he's not been 100% since beating Martinez then?

Because he's not fought anything approaching the best since that fight - Evensen probably wasn't in the top 50, Laryea was a bum and Cook.... the less said about that the better.

He really needs to fight a top opponent next, or he's in danger of going down as one of the worst world champions in the history of boxing, whether you, I or anyone else on here likes it or not.

Like Dunky said, it would be brilliant to see him on HBO - little Ricky Burns, the lad who nobody gave a chance of winning anything years ago, won the world title and now upsets an unbeaten American with a high KO %.

Or - moves up at the first sign of danger and faces more ''safe'' opponents.

The choice is yours, collectively of course.

 

Billy you need to relax as your heading for a heart a tack with all the stress and weight your carrying

 

I feel so ****ing let down by Burns, what a pity.

 

Never said it was. My point is that if he's suddenly so tight at the weight where he's "less than 100%" or in danger or whatever, it's a little weird that it ONLY get mentioned just as a Broner fight is a serious prospect.

You do see why people think it's suspicious, yes? You don't have to agree, just understand their thinking. You also have to accept that the way you have responded to many people on here has left some ill-feeling. Fair enough if it doesn't bother you (though I suspect it does).

I'm not sure the point you're making here. But I'll repeat what I said - if the weight was an issue (and it must have been for some months to be thinking about bailing right now), why not push to make a meaningful fight and then move up knowing Team Burns has achieved something?

There's an inconsistency between word and deed here. Yeah, you want to protect Ricky. If he's not right at the weight, he should move up. But he's missed out on his best opportunity to seal himself a legacy. Broner was beatable, as was Fana.

At LW, Ricky's limited power will be even less of a factor and the title holders are a lot tougher.

 

I just think that it is a real shame that while there have been a few on here being a bit abrupt, many of the posts have simply asked reasonable questions and expressed their disappointment at this turn of events, often while stressing that they like and support Burns, yet those questions are not really being answered by VVarren and his team. Sport is entertainment, at the end of the day, and without fans paying to watch then most fights would just melt away. So fan interest is essential to the health of any sport and should be encouraged.

Billy obviously reads many of these threads, and in the past has been in the thick of any discussion of fighters close to his heart, generally in a positive and upbeat manner. The fact of his previous participation is bound to lead to an expectation on here that he will be as chatty and honest about his opinions when the topic discussed is not so straightforward.

So I think that it is a real shame that Billy's contributions to this thread have been so sporadic and aggressive. Personally, even if someone disagrees with you, and even if they are being a bit rude, I don't think that there is any need to call them a c*nt etc - it just reinforces the growing belief that the criticism of this story has hit a nerve, that there is a sensitivity there.

Whatever Billy says about the fans at a distance not knowing the facts about health, weight etc., the sad fact is that that very distance will be exactly the reason that many fans will form the perception that Burns is ducking Broner, even if that is not actually the case. This is further reinforced by the fact that Billy, VVarren and others were very recently talking about how great the Broner fight would be, how strong Ricky is, all of that. Unless Ricky developed these weight issues in the past fortnight or so - and that seems unlikely - then either Burns' previous strength at the weight was exaggerated by the camp (including in the past few weeks) or they have suddenly just changed their mind about facing Broner (which will inevitably be interpreted by many fans as a duck), or there is a further, separate health issue that has nothing to do with the weight and of which the fans at large are not aware.

It simply cannot be the case that two weeks ago Burns was strong at the weight and looking forward with confidence to a fight with Broner at SFW, and today he can't make the weight safely so has to consider vacating and moving up. There is a clear discrepancy there, so if this is not a duck (and I am not saying that it is) there is obviously something that the fans at large do not know.

The questions from fans are inevitable and reasonable, and it is a shame that Billy will not even acknowledge that on here, given his previous engagement with the discussions, and a great shame that VVarren is putting out such mixed messages. VVarren has often, in the past, complained that some promoters and fighters are hard to deal with. Unless there is a major chunk of information that we are not being told, it seems likely that Broner's camp are not that happy with the mixed messages from VVaren, right now!