Burns' next opponent.

Liam Walsh has just been confirmed as Ricky Burns' next opponent. Anyone see the point in this fight?

To keep things ticking over. I wonder how Warren will sell this beaut of a match up.

I know the big guns are tied up but he could have surely got someone better in! Frank is killing off any momentum gained from Burns spanking out a 'prepared' Mitchell.

Warren is doing an Arum but at bargain basement level. Keeping everything in house.

"He's unbeaten, hungry, never tasted defeat" yadda yadda!

Walsh was due to "headline" the Flintoff bill on 30th November, I suppose Freddie will now switch to Price's undercard?

Haha, warren is a joke and his stable should follow bellew and degale out of there

Walsh is a SFW who has ony 13 fight and has only just won the european title, shouldn't be a problem for burns. I think he has a fight lined up in November too so that could hurt his chances if he peaks for the November fight then isn't at his best for burns or if he doesn't peak for the November fight he could get beat

I've long scoured the boxing forum from the days of the old bbc forum.

I've never been compelled to comment or add to any discussion before as my depth of knowledge could be described as being slightly more than a casual fan (late 1980's onwards).

I live in the same area as Liam and have friends that either know or socialise with him. Ryan and Michael (Liam's brothers) have left the Warren stable and Liam is keen to leave too. I get the distinct feeling this is why he (not Burns) is being matched reasonably hard (for a Warren fighter at this stage of his career). A case of Warren throwing his toys out of the pram.

It should also be noted that I have regularly seen Liam pound the pavements early in the morning (not too early mind), something that I can't say of his brothers. Liam seems to have a good work ethic to me and has talent. This fight is a shame, as invariably it has come all too soon and could break a promising career.........Good ol' Warren!

Thanks for the insight Gcass.

If this is true about matching Liam hard due to falling out with Warren it just adds to the hundreds of examples of him being a complete idiot!

Hi Gcass

Likewise, though, it could make it. Imagine a Walsh win! On the back of Burns' recent success that'd be an almighty scalp and catapult him in to the big time!

I can't see it, but it's worth a shot in my view. A throwback to yesteryear where a loss really doesn't matter, the learning curve is more important. I hope others follow suit.

First reactions i saw to this were on Boxnation's facebook- everyone seems to think it's an unbeliveable mismatch, I actually rate Walsh despite a few flaws and inexperience and give him as good a chance in this as the likes of Andreas Evensen!

Has Burns ever faced a mandatory challanger or has all his defences been picked by Warren?

Has Walsh even proved he's number 1 at domestic level at SFW? Would lie to see him fight buckland

Gavin Ree's has recently signed to fight Murray, couldn't they have got him instead. He's a lightweight and has proven to be above domestic level whereas Walsh has just got to European level

Boxnation twitter page is getting real slack and too right, hopefully this opens warrens eyes

I'm a real fan of Walsh, I think he has real potential. But he has only just reached commonwealth level. The strap he picked up on the Haye/Chisora undercard wasn't the EBU European title, it was the WBO European belt (I didn't know this existed prior to the fight).

One thing Liam has going for him is that he is seen training very hard regularly. He should come again and as Fists rightly said he can learn from it.

I wonder if Liam has sparred with Burns in the past and fancies it himself on that basis.

Liam and I share the same barber (tenuous link I know) who happens to be reasonably close to him and one of my best friends. He has just sent me a text saying he'll ask Liam his opinion on the fight next time he sees him. I'll keep you up to date if you are all interested.

Gcass, I'm sure Liam is over the moon. Notably because with Broner circling the WBO belt, he could get some crazy exposure should he pull off an upset

Would be interesting to see how Walsh copes physically, burns may have been at SFW not too long ago but still looks huge and is filling out. Walsh on the other hand isn't a big SFW and was shaken multiple times vs a tough but distinctively average Appleby.

He has gone 12 rounds only once and burns is as fit as they come and won't let up, but hopefully he can at least make it competitive for as long as it lasts

I'm sorry Gcass but there is no way this fight should be made and it might not be good for walsh's relatively short career

Fair point Reborn, to be fair i'd take a heavyweight world title shot if offered. Even though i have never laced up the gloves and my last fight (when I was 11 years old) didn't end in my favour.

I think as Fists alluded to, it could be a win/win for Liam (unless he is devastatingly knocked out, as unlikely as this is). I can imagine the Warren hyperbole now if he does, of how Liam is the next big thing and how he has offered Broner a fight at the Cromer sports centre only for Broner to 'duck' the fight even after offering him a gold plated comb as part of the bargain.

Personally, I feel it is too much too soon.

Disappointing choice.

Great insight Gcass!

I think this is terrible.

http://www.wboboxing.com/rankings

13th....not really the calibre of opponent Burns should be facing, and matching Walsh this hard puts an L on his record far too early.

Did I miss something??

From the BBC:

BOXING
Ricky Burns will land a unification fight with American Adrien Broner if he beats Norfolk fighter Liam Walsh at London's ExCeL on 15 December.

Scotland's Burns, the WBO lightweight champion, turned down the chance to fight WBC title-holder Broner last year.

George Groves and Billy Joe Saunders will defend their Commonwealth titles on the same bill in London, against Glen Johnson and Nick Blackwell respectively.

The BBC must have got mystic meg out for this one because I haven't seen Broner even fight for the belt yet, let alone hold it.

This fight is almost identical to Cleverly vs Bellew.

A decent showing from Walsh will make him think he is world class, just a Bellew strutts around now saying due to his close fight with The New Joe Calzaghe.

BBC in misinformation shocker.

Technically Broner held the WBC United States (USNBC) lightweight title last year.

That wouldn't go on the line in a unification fight alone with a world title though would it.

It wouldn't, but then nobody said it would.

Ricky Burns will land a unification fight with American Adrien Broner if he beats Norfolk fighter Liam Walsh

WBC title-holder Broner

It doesn't specify which titles will be unified, they only say that Broner held a WBC title last year, which he did.

If Burns wins his WBO world title fight it will only be a unification fight should Broner actually WIN the WBC world title which he has not yet done.

So winning this fight won't land him a unification fight as the article states. Broner needs to win a world title first.

I can do this all day.

I know that a Burns win doesn't guarantee a unification fight with Broner, and in saying that it would the article is incorrect. The point was that you said that the article inferred that the WBC United States (USNBC) lightweight title will be on the line, which, of course, it won't.

So you're saying Broner is the IBF champ? Or is that Burns or is he the WBA beltholder?

What are we talkin about again?

Ah forget it, shut up Union.

(yes!!!, 1-nil to reborn)

Hold on Union.

Broner held that belt last year but gave it up to fight for the WBO super featherweight belt.

He isn't a WBC title holder then as the article states.

The article states that Broner was a WBC belt holder last year.

Which he was.

could be good for Walsh is he puts on a good show and, having lost, get's dumped by Frank and gets to go to the Matchroom stable.

Mitchell can't keep coming up with the excuse of not being mentally ready, fighters are going to come across problems, marriages, passing family members etc, it happens to everyone. Katsidis lost a brother, Douglas his mother prior to fights yet carried on. If he feels that bad, postpone the fight and give it your all on another date

On Walsh, I hope he beats Burns then joins matchroom and Hearn, this making warren lose 2 champions overnight, but I can't see Walsh being good enough

I can't see Burns fighting Broner either.

For a start, if Broner beats DeMarco, he is the WBC champion. The WBC is apparantly not allowing their title to be unified any longer. There is no way Broner will ditch the WBC to fight for the WBO.

Another thing, if Burns truely was warming up to a Broner fight, why fight a novice that will not prepare you for the biggest fight of your career in the slightest.

Broner has the likes of Guerrero, Rios, Gamboa, Marquez etc all on US turf and far more marketable. I can't see anything to suggest that Burns fights him next year apart from Warren saying so, and going by the drivel he spills about Cleverly being ducked by every world class fighter in his weight....Warren's words don't mean diddley boo!!!!

I feel for Walsh if that is correct that Walsh is being pitted against Burns purely because he wants to leave, it's horrible management, a fight that Walsh has been underprepared for so far, and the fact that it is not even in his best weight class only intensifies this point.

Warren is just simply put, a horrible, bitter, twisted old man, I wish his entire stable leaves him and twaddles off to Matchroom. Of course you can paint it as the opportunity of a lifetime for Walsh, and most would say you should accept a World Title offer, but Walsh should be able to move his career at a much slower pace than this. I hope Wlash wins and leaves Warren, which leaves Warren without another World Champion, the onyl expense of this is that a nice guy in burns would be beaten. Warren if you're reading this, I have a genuine dislike for you...

It's a terrible matchup, fair enough keeping Burns active but to throw someone like Walsh to the slaughter is an insult. I'm just beginning to wonder are British boxers the most protected in the game today? With Cleverly,Brook having over 20 fights and hardly a meaningful one. The Beijing Olympians havent been matched with anyone in the top 10 if I'm served right over 4 years now. Price and Fury seem to be going sideways with opponents, certainly frustrating for me.

Cheers Rodders

Apparently broner is next in line. I wonder how Warren will manouver Burns away from that fight. A possible move to LWW?

I have always said Burns vs Rees would be a decent match.

Rees is a bit under rated in my opinion. And has proven in other fights that he would have more than enough to pose Burns a hell of a lot of problems.

alma wrote:Why is Walsh ranked #13 by the WBO? Has he even fought at 135?

They moved a dead person up the rankings once.

Don't see what your problem is.

Walsh is expected to get beat,but if he gives a good account of himself after having only 13 fights he shouldn't be too disappointed,Burns had an early loss to Alex Arthur about the same stage of his career, great experience for Walsh.

Walsh won his 'highly regarded' WBO European strap in his first fight at lightweight. I suspect Warren had him fight for this to get his ranking and make the fight feasible.

Ironically, after my post yesterday I met Ryan Walsh at the local swimming pool in Bodham. I asked him if Liam had ever sparred with Burns, he said he hadn't and they have only briefly met him a couple of times. He came across as a nice lad.

Ryan (who may be slightly biased) thinks that Liam has a real chance and that it is a win/win situation. I would have given him a slight chance if he'd been in with Burns behind closed doors, i'm not so sure now.