British Scene: Ricky Burns vs Joseph Laryea Preview
by The Boxing Bulletin on Mar 10, 2011 11:38 PM EST
in Boxing Fight Previews
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Dave Oakes previews Saturday's super-featherweight clash between Ricky Burns and Joseph Laryea.
Ricky Burns goes into the second defence of his WBO title knowing that a slip-up against the unheralded Joseph Laryea will scupper any chance of a prospective big fight. A bout with Mzonke Fana has been talked about and Burns needs to continue to impress here if he’s to secure a fight against the IBF champion.
Laryea upset one Scottish fighter in Paul Appleby to get the title shot and will be hoping to cause another shock this Saturday at the Braehead Arena, Glasgow. Laryea, 11-4 (11 KO’s), looks to be better than his record suggests. He’s tall, long limbed and has an awkward style which Burns will find hard to look good against.
Appleby couldn’t adapt to Laryea’s style, the Ghanaian repeatedly landed the jab and occasionally connected with one of his widely thrown but hard looking hooks. Whilst not being the silkiest of operators, Laryea looks tough and durable and has already experienced fighting in the raucous atmosphere of the Braehead Arena so shouldn’t be overawed by the task ahead.
Burns, 30-2 (7 KO’s), is in the form of his life, he produced a gutsy and disciplined performance in winning the title against Roman Martinez and was efficient if not spectacular in defending it last time out against Andreas Evensen.
The improvement Burns has shown over the past couple of years is remarkable, his career had become a touch stagnant following his loss to Carl Johanneson in early 2007 but he’s turned it around wonderfully. It shows that hard work and dedication can pay off if you learn from the knocks you’ve suffered.
This is a potential banana skin for Burns, he should be too good for Laryea but could be made to look bad by the gangly Ghanaian. Both fighters like to work behind the jab and it’s important that Burns establishes his early on. Burns may take a few rounds to suss out Laryea’s style but should gain control by the fourth. I expect him to retain his title via a wide-ish points decision.
James DeGale sharpens his tools on the undercard; he takes on Alpay Kobal over eight rounds. The Frenchman shouldn’t pose DeGale too many problems and I expect DeGale to stop him around the fourth.
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Is the site no longer doing the TV/Internet fight schedules?
Quite frankly, those were probably my favorite regular feature on the site.
Those were especially useful in deciphering who is fighting on FNF and whether or not the US Spanish language channels were showing live boxing on any given weekend.
oh it still is
Brickhaus posted his apologies for missing out with them the last couple of weeks due to jury duty if I remember correctly but I’m sure he’ll be back with them pretty soon ;-)
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘’Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
yeah we are
Brick has been unable to get to them recently, but they’ll be back. I’ll do my best to get one up today, actually, and next week if he’s still out.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Mar 11, 2011 5:48 PM EST up reply actions
actually, it's Friday
A good Thursday night hangover will make you forget that. So I won’t do one this week, but I promise we’ll have one up next week one way or the other.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Mar 11, 2011 5:56 PM EST up reply actions
Part of me really wants to look for the upset here. I am very slow to underestimate African fighters who are largely unknown, no matter the record. BoxRec has also upped his record to 14-4, I guess finding three Lost Fights of Joseph Laryea, none being substantial. All I really need to know about him is probably the Appleby fight anyway.
I like Burns and thought his win over Martinez was one of the great moments of 2010, but jeez, he seems closer to Alex Arthur to me than a legit world stage guy. I very well could be wrong about that and wouldn’t mind being wrong about it, but although he beat Martinez fair and square, I was on pins and needles the whole fight waiting for Martinez to land the bomb. Laryea has the same chance, I suspect. I’ll very tentatively call for the upset alert, but I will pick Burns to win.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
See, after watching Laryea beat Paul Appleby, I also feel this fight is going to be a heck of a let closer than most think. But, as Dafs says, I don’t see him getting a decision fighting against a Scottish defending champion in Scotland. He totally outclassed Appleby, and even then the scorecards showed a split.
I’ve gone with Burns by decision in the pick ‘em game, and I do think Ricky will deserve the nod, but it should be a lot more competitive than the Evensen fight. I’ve also got a quid on Laryea at 100/1, so I won’t be too upset if Burns loses.
"Occasionally, there is a boxing match that, in its demonstration of skill, courage, intelligence, hope, seems to redeem the sport - almost. Perhaps boxing has always been a sport in crisis, a sport of crisis."
by Oli Goldstein on Mar 12, 2011 4:57 AM EST up reply actions
I heard him come out with words to the effect that either he was knocking Ricky out or getting knocked out himself, that he couldn’t let it go to the cards. I think he’s going to be wilder and therefore more chance of getting caught/punching himself out. You would think that the odds would be far closer than they are, given their last fights. I think this could really be a good one….
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘’Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
I don’t think Burns stops Laryea. Rocky Martinez was totally gassed by the end of their fight, and Ricky landed a ton of clean punches, but he just doesn’t have the power to stop anyone with a semblance of a chin. Needless to say I’d be very, very surprised by a stoppage, but I do likewise think it could be a real good fight.
"Occasionally, there is a boxing match that, in its demonstration of skill, courage, intelligence, hope, seems to redeem the sport - almost. Perhaps boxing has always been a sport in crisis, a sport of crisis."
by Oli Goldstein on Mar 12, 2011 8:48 AM EST up reply actions
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