Martinez becomes a Burns victim
Ricky Burns became the pride of Scotland on Saturday night when he captured the WBO super-featherweight title off Román Martínez in a thrilling against-the-odds victory in Glasgow.
It was the first defeat in the heavily-favoured Puerto Ricans career, although it looked like it was going to be an easy night for the champ as Burns had to haul himself of the canvas in the first round following a stinging straight right from Martínez. It was a real pearler that caught the contender flush and produced a collective intake of breath around Kelvin Hall, followed by a relived exhale as Burns got back to his feet.
It was a baptism of fire to championship boxing for Burns as Martínez proceeded to devour the next two rounds as well putting the contender under tremendous pressure.
Despite having a similar punch-and-move style, Martínez represents better value for the KO with 15 in 24, while Burns has a modest stoppage record of seven in 29. Yet the Scotsman realised after that brutal opening few rounds he was going to have to engage the champ toe-to-toe, and he did so in gutsy and courageous fashion.
Making amends for his bad start Burns got his jab going and started to dig himself in to the trenches. He went to work on Martínez and sent him wobbling with a big right in the fifth as he frequently found some joy with his right uppercut.
A shell-shocked Martínez realised he had a fight on his hands and came back at Burns as the bout went back and forth at a rate of knots. It brought out the best in Burns who was by now not only absorbing Martínez’s shots like an aggressive sponge, he was also counter punching his way back in to the bout. Time and time again Martínez went after Burns only to be chased back and eventually the champion began to lose his rhythm and energy as his shots missed their target and became less effective.
Burns was showing determination and grit above the and beyond the call of duty. Martínez didn’t give him an easy ride and refused to go down without a fight. This was best typified when a big cross from Burns drew blood for Puerto Rican’s champs mouth in the 10th, but he just instantly shook it off and came straight back at the local boy as if nothing had happened. A mutual respect began to build as the Rickster showed outstanding durability and returned in kind, you could almost sense Martínez’s admiration grow for the granite chinned Scot as the rounds racked up.
The war waged for a further two rounds until the bell went and the judges card came up 112-115, 112-115, 113-115 and the roof nearly came off as Burns was announced as the new world champion. A hard fight but there’s no question the gallant Scot gave enough after coming up off the canvas early to deserve the victory.
Martínez is known as “Rocky”, Burns was inspired to fight by the Rocky films and this gritty underdog story boasted enough drama and such a heroic story line that a Hollywood scriptwriter will probably phone up Sylvester Stallone and suggest they replicate it for the Italian Stallion’s seventh outing. It was the sort of upset that is the life-blood of the sport.
This will go down in Scottish boxing folklore as one of the best fights Scotland has ever seen, certainly in recent history. Burns can now count himself among the likes of Ken Buchanan and Jim Watt as a Scottish world champion, Watt of course winning his title against Alfredo Pitula in the same venue 31 years ago.
It was a triumph for Burns, a triumph for Scotland and a triumph for the underdog. Most importantly a triumph for boxing. Google the sport and you will see reports on David Haye, Manny Pacquiao Floyd Mayweather et al, moaning, bragging, fighting second-rate fighters and not caring one jot for the sport or the fans.
The look on Burns face when he was announced as champion shows what the sport and the gravitas of holding a world championship belt means to him and the noise from the 3,000 loyal fans showed what it meant to them as well, as a modern day Braveheart gave Scotland a Burns night to remember.
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