Burns fought like a champion last night, the way he finished the 7th as an aggressor after the hammering he took on the ropes would have been lauded if it had been a round in Gatti-Ward. Although he was getting outclassed in the first half of the fight, the heart and toughness that he showed, reminded me of Froch, brilliant win and what an atmosphere.
Also Billy what ****ing chin Rickys got! Plenty would have crumbled, but Ricky didnt thats why hes the champ
Ricky admitted as much that he really struggled with Gonzalez's length and tbf JG was brilliant at maximising that advantage; it was easy to see from early on (even Jim Watt mentioned it) that RB was falling short so often with his punches.
Chill out, Davinder. Well, he's right. It more or less is that simple. You can't always be a winner against every style you come across, whether you've seen it or not. I doubt Billy can bring a consummate reason to the table for it.
Why was Ricky made to miss so often Bill? Gonzalez didn't strike me as a fighter with the fastest of reactions, and he seemed a bit stiff up top. Was it ring rust or is Gonzalez just one of those weird rangey fighters? I know Ricky mentioned long arms in the PC, I actually thought watching the fight, Jose Gonzalez reminded me a bit like Chris Eubank, especially in terms of body shape, physique and small yet seriously advanced movements. He didnt strike me as particularly fast, either in footspeed, defence or handspeed but Gonzalez did strike me as a very careful and conscious fighter. He clearly knew what he was doing. Those tiny little movements he was doing, making Ricky miss by inches, meant he was wasting little energy doing it and not making the mistake of reacting too quickly and walking/leaning straight onto a shot. He was making it look easy at times. It was like he was ahead of the game. He made it look like The Matrix Neo bullet time slow motion ****. I noticed that he kept taking half a step back and it was really frustrating Ricky (unlike Ricky really that) I'm glad you got the W anyway Billy. Hopefully you and Ricky can both take something from this fight and learn, I've no doubts it should make Ricky even better, and if ever there was a rematch, I honestly think second time around, a sharper Ricky would get the job done and pretty quickly aswell. That wasn't like the Ricky Burns I know of in there last night, the tip-top Ricky Burns was the Ricky Burns that beat Kevin Mitchell so easily. Cheers.
if his wrist was broken then why were franticly rubbing his legs? I think he was more hurt than he looked
Personally I really like Burns as a fighter he has extracted every part of his ability & more.His fitness got him through last night in a battle of wills. He has improved leaps & bounds last night he certainly struggled at times Gonzalez proved to be a worthy challenger who will no doubt come again. Burns a few years back would have been stopped but hats off to him he got the job done did what a true champ does turned the fight on it's head.Kudos to him.
I actually thought the injury was his left leg, but then they said wrist. Maybe both, who knows? Last night I heard he broke his arm. :huh Any news?
Well done Billy. Ricky showed real grit against an excellent looking boxer. If Gonzalez had Ricky's heart and fitness he would be some force. The guy was quality up until the 7th. Ricky was stalking him in the 9th, you could see Gonzalez was near empty and the tide was turning in Ricky's favour. It wasn't a great performance by Ricky but he made it through and got some valuable experience in the type of ability he's going to be facing at top end world class level, where the guys also have the heart to match.
As ive said his legs seemed gone after he got caught by an uppercut in the 7th aswell as burning himself out, Gonzalez lack of experience lost this fight where as Ricky experience won him the fight
Burns went up in my estimation because of the way he dug deep. He has more bottle than Hatton or Khan already in my view.