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Ricky Burns and Willie Limond finally fight each other this weekend The welterweight 12-rounder between the Scottish veterans – one of the most unexpected matches of the year – goes ahead at Braehead Arena in Glasgow on Friday night, more than seven years after the fight was first discussed.
Forty-year-old Burns, 44-8-1 (16), says he wants this to be his retirement, and at 44, Limond, 42-5 (13), surely can’t have many fights left after that, even if he wins. goes
Of course, Tanna Tanna wants to quit boxing on defeat, but the stakes were higher when the match was offered in the past. Barnes-Lymond was due to win both at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro in May 2016.
Barnes (Coatbridge) made it three weight world titles by stopping disappointing Italian Michele Di Rocco for the vacant WBA super-lightweight title, while Limond lost his British title in nine rounds to Tyrone Nurse.
The fight could still take place if Limond beats Liverpool’s Robbie Davies Jr. in Preston next January.
Davies defeated Limond (Glasgow) Barnes challenge will be given the necessary world ranking, but the day before the fight, Willie was out due to illness.
LeMond’s record shows that four of his five defeats have come against world belt-holders He had a 12-0 Amir Khan down – he called for a long count – before being ruled out with a broken jaw.
And he impressed 34-year-old Eric Morales enough with a six-round loss, in front of 60,000 fans in a Mexican bullring, before he was invited to spar with Marcos Maidana.
Limond also lost to regular opponent Alex Arthur – 20 years ago – and Anthony Crolla in British-title fights at 130 and 135 pounds respectively.
Barnes won major belts at three weights and the night he won his first must rank as one of the greatest nights of British boxing of this century.
“Everyone was saying he was the number one super-featherweight and I had no chance”, Rickey recalled of his challenge for Roman Martinez’s WBO belt at Kelvin Hall in September 2010. “People thought I shouldn’t have been there with him. But I’m at my best when I’m up against it.”
Barnes only believed in himself when he was in the fight. Naturally shy, Barnes watched Rocky IV before every fight and then transformed into the Scottish version of Rocky Balboa when he pulled on a pair of gloves he just loved to fight.
“From the pros, I was always fighting somebody,” Barnes said
“Even when I wasn’t boxing, I would go to shows with my kit bag hoping I could get a fight. I was willing to fight older guys, older guys, everybody.”
Barnes claimed 100 wins from 106 amateurs and, after turning professional at 18, he always got the most out of himself.
There were tears of joy after he upset British lightweight champion Graham Earle in eight rounds in 2005 and predicted a big future for Arthur Barnes as they battled for the British, Commonwealth and European belts over 12 grueling rounds at 130lb.
Martinez seemed more concerned about the Scottish weather than Barnes when asked about defending his title with an emphatic fourth-round knockout from Dagenham’s Nicky Cook.
Burns-Martinez was set for Puerto Rico before Martinez’s promoters discovered they did not have enough funds and while Frank Warren struggled to secure a televised date for the fight in Scotland, Burns considered an offer to challenge British champion Gary Sykes.
Sykes likely started that fight as a slight favorite, but Barnes decided not to take it, giving coach Billy Nelson more time to study Martinez.
At the time, Nelson was working the night shift in a secure unit for troubled youths and after returning home at 8.30am, he would study DVDs of Martinez he had bought a few hours earlier from the back pages of a boxing magazine at the gym.
“Two people thought Ricky would win. Me and Ricky and all that is important,” said Nelson, but after the opening hours, he was concerned.
He “push” the goal whenever Martinez landed and first late, he sent down Burns.
Burns resisted brilliantly. “Sometimes in a fight, instinct takes over,” he told Boxing News “Nobody expected me to go out and fight him; Everyone thought I would be off the back foot.
“But as the fight went, I let my hand go forward when I aimed to have the most success.”
Punching stats Barnes outshot Martinez by 83 from 210 shots and although the judges called it close, Rickey was ahead on all cards after 12 thrilling rounds which he enjoyed as much as the crowd.
“The battle was back and forth and that’s what made it so exciting,” he said. “I like having fights like that. I love a good fight.”
After the victory, Burns said he “surprised” himself with his performance and perhaps matched it when he defeated Michael Katsidis and Kevin Mitchell at 135 pounds.
It’s fair to say that Limond has exceeded expectations.
Crolla did not appear to have much of a future in the sport after he was overtaken for the British title in November 2011.
Lymond was a 32-year-old former Commonwealth champion who had already been a professional for 12 years, but he went on to reinvent himself at 140 pounds and enjoyed the best days of his career, capturing the British and Commonwealth titles.
Perhaps his best night came in June 2014, when he twice eliminated footballer-turned-fighter Curtis Woodhouse and stripped him of his British title.
Burns had little to celebrate that night, having been beaten by Montenegro’s Dejan Zlatikanin by more than 12 years.
Saturday night and, for all the good-natured build-up, Barnes and Limond expect to give it their all.
We have a little more left than Barnes Limond and are going to win a competitive battle of points.
The undercard features three tight matchups, each over 10 rounds for the Scottish region title.
At super-lightweight, Newarthill’s 7-0 Martin Crossan defended his belt against Elgin’s Andrew Smart, 6-1 for the vacant featherweight title against Glasgow’s Jack Turner, 60, and Cumbernauld’s Andy Tham, 41 (2). And the super-featherweight championship was contested for the first time since 2017 when Dundee’s Charlie Doig, 3-0 (1), beat Inverness’ George Stewart, 4-0.
