British Scene: Ricky Burns vs Andreas Evensen Preview

Dave Oakes previews this Saturday's super-featherweight clash between Ricky Burns and Andreas Evensen.

Ricky Burns makes the first defence of his WBO super-featherweight title this Saturday night when he takes on Andreas Evensen at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow.

Burns, 29-2 (7 KO’s) upset the odds in September when he recovered from a first round knockdown to dethrone Roman Martinez. It looked like an impossible task for the Coatbridge fighter after the knockdown but the way he dug in and recovered his composure before coming back to out box Martinez for the majority of the fight, whilst surviving a few rocky patches, was mightily impressive.

The improvement Burns has shown over the past two years is remarkable, his career had become a touch stagnant following his loss to Carl Johanneson in early 2007 and it looked like he might not even achieve a domestic title let alone a world title. His change in fortunes came when he outpointed the tough Osumanu Akaba just over two years ago to claim the Commonwealth title. That was followed up with three successful defences, each one giving Burns more confidence and experience, which proved vital when he met Martinez.

Norwegian Evensen, 13-1 (5 KO’s), impressed me when he beat Gianpiero Contestabile at the Manchester Velodrome last year. He pressurised Contestabile from the opening bell, throwing fast flurries of punches that had an accumulative effect on the outgunned Italian, the stoppage coming in the fifth.

Evensen was very aggressive against Contestabile but was more controlled in the other fight of his that I’ve seen – when he stopped Peesaddeng Kiatsakthanee in seven rounds earlier this year. He seemed to fight at a slower pace against Kiatsakthanee but he still put his punches together in fast combinations and was the aggressor in the bout.

There’s a huge difference in height and reach, with Burns towering over the squat Evensen, and the champion should be looking to keep Evensen at range and under control with the jab. Evensen will undoubtedly try to get on the inside and hammer away at Burns’ body - the tall Scotsman providing plenty of target area for the challenger to aim for.

Burns is a massive favourite at the bookies (as short as 1/16) but the fight could prove to be more competitive than those odds suggest. Evensen is unproven but has shown enough to suggest he’ll give Burns a hard fight; his only defeat came against the decent Benoit Gaudet, in what was only his seventh fight, so people shouldn’t read too much into that.

I believe Evensen will put in a spirited performance, and may have periods of success, but Burns holds all the advantages – height, reach, experience and adaptability, as well as being the hometown fighter. With that in mind, I’m picking Burns to win via a points decision around the 117-111 mark.

The undercard sees former British champion Paul Appleby take on Joseph Laryea, Alex Arthur take on Jay Morris, and the debut of Commonwealth

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