Ricky Burns breaks down Crawford-Indongo

Ricky Burns knows what it’s like to face face both Terence Crawford and Julius Indongo — who will fight tomorrow in an undisputed 140lb unification. Burns was wiped out by Crawford in early 2014 and lost another wide decision to Indongo this past April, so he’s had a good feel (quite literally) for both fighter’s strengths.

In an interview with RingTV, Burns gives his thoughts on what makes Indongo such a difficult fighter to deal with inside the ring:

“Indongo’s main strengths are his height, his reach and he’s a southpaw,” Burns told RingTV.com. “He’s just so awkward to deal with. Standing in front of him at a weigh-in is one thing but when you square off against him, it’s amazing how big and rangy he is.”

Conversely, Burns’ assessment of Crawford is as follows:

“Technically, Crawford is just so good,” said Burns with respect. “His ability to switch-hit kept him one step ahead whenever I tried to come in. He can draw leads off you and his counters are really good. His boxing ability is definitely superior to Indongo’s.”

So when breaking down the match-up between Crawford and Indongo based on his own experiences with them, Burns gives the edge to Crawford.

“I can see Indongo giving him something to think about for the first few rounds but Crawford is just so good at figuring you out. I think he’ll take over and he might actually force a late stoppage.”

The pick isn’t a big surprise as Crawford is generally seen as a really special, top-tier talent, but it’s not as if Indongo doesn’t have anything to offer. He’s quickly risen from obscurity to grab two world titles in his last two fights and has all the motivation needed to pull of an upset. Whether or not that will prove to be enough, well, we’ll find out for certain tomorrow.

The action starts tomorrow night, live at 10pm ET on ESPN. Sky Sports will also be airing the fight live for those of you in the UK.