Ricky Burns and Omar Figueroa will be meeting in San Antonio, Texas on May 9th. Needless to say, the Rickster has hit a bit of a rough patch in his career, going 2-2-1 in his last five fights. After getting his jaw broken by Ray Beltran, and then his title taken by Terence Crawford, Ricky lost a split decision against Dejan Zlaticanin who was really an unheralded prospect. Knowing the skid Burns was on, he was then matched-up favorably in a light 8-rounder against Alexandre Lepelley in what would be his first bout at 140lbs - a fight he managed to win on points.
Figueroa, on the other hand, is a native Texan and will be sure to get some home-state support when he takes on the Scottish fighter. Omar is still sporting his undefeated record (24-0-1, 18 KOs) and is most well known for his rousing battle with Nihito Arakawa back in July 2013. Despite him being the WBC lightweight champion (at one point), rumors swirled that he had serious trouble continuing to make 135lbs and an injury eventually caused the WBC to strip him of that title. Though he was expected to make a jump to 147lbs, it appears as though he'll have a pit stop at 140 for this fight with Burns.
The real question, in my mind anyway, is whether or not Burns really has anything left in the tank. Do any of you think he'll be able to make it to the top of the heap at 140? He had already been exposed by more talented fighters at lightweight and may end up just being somewhat of a gatekeeper for the remainder of his career.