Burns stunned by Zlaticanin; Limond shows his class; Simmons leaves it late

By Peter Wells:

Ricky Burns (left) & Dejan Zlaticanin (right)

Last night was supposed to go swimmingly for Ricky Burns, it was set up to be Burns' night, a chance to regain the fine form he had lost in recent outings, and a chance to put himself back in the title picture. Instead the recently dethroned WBO Lightweight champion was hit by a further sucker punch as he was beaten by unknown Dejan Zlaticanin.

The Montenegrin remained undefeated, topping his previous low key victories with the win of his career thus far. There was little doubt that Zlaticanin had potential, bouncing up the WBC rankings with good wins that included a unanimous one over Boxcino Tournament winner Petr Petrov.

But unfortunately for Burns, no one will be heralding Zlaticanin as the next big thing, his style is unconventional to say the least, swinging left overhand haymakers from the hip. While these shots did seem wild, they had accuracy and timing attached to them, and that is what caught Burns out, as the Scotsman was unable to avoid the bombs.

Burns was dropped and shaken several times, and while coming on strong in the second half of the fight, it wasn't enough as he lost a split decision.

Burns was levelled by a left over his own right hand inside 20 seconds of the 1st round. Burns rose but was under heavy pressure for the rest of the session.

Burns was not working enough and it was a theme of every round that Dejan would land one overhand left flush to the chin. An elusive target, Zlaticanin moved forward without a jab, the biggest disappointment in Ricky's performance being that he did not take full advantage of his jab. Instead Ricky fired the occasional volley of shots that usually resulted in Dejan tagging the home favourite with a hard left from the southpaw stance.

Not doing enough was allowing for the one-bombs to steal the rounds for Dejan, who would then pound Ricky on the ropes to further stamp his name on the rounds as they passed by.

Ricky Burns taking a count in the opening round

It wasn't only Ricky Burns who had a fault in his work as Sky Sports coverage went down for rounds 6-9. Reports suggest that while Dejan still landed enough with the overhand left, Burns was moving more and edging his way back into the contest. When Sky picked it back up again in the 10th that was exactly how the fight was panning out, Ricky now looking in control of the action. A huge left hand tagged Burns just before the bell in the final round.

A terrific performance from Dejan was rewarded by scorecards of 115-113 (twice) to Zlaticanin and 115-113 to Burns.

Burns dropped to 36-4-1(11) and he will need to think hard about his next step in the boxing ring as his run of bad form continues. Domestic rivals such as Anthony Crolla will surely be chomping at the bit to get it on with the former two-weight world champion. Zlaticanin moves to 19-0(13) as he goes in search of a title fight with WBC champion Omar Figueroa.

The co-feature provided drama and entertainment as Willie Limond 38-4(10) retained his Commonwealth Light Welterweight title while claiming the British title off Curtis Woodhouse 22-7(13).

Woodhouse was dropped twice by the Scottish fighter in a fight where the quality of Limond shone through against the raw determination of Woodhouse.

Woodhouse started the opener behind a strong jab, Limond throwing very little in response. Woodhouse may still have nicked the round but Limond made a case for himself when a right hand landed around the ear of Woodhouse which momentarily backed him up to the ropes, a warning of the underrated power that Limond carries.

The pair jostled for position in the centre of the ring, Woodhouse fell short with a right and was countered well by a left-right by Limond who ended the round well again.

Woodhouse became more assertive in his work in the 3rd, two right hands backing Limond up, but it was Woodhouse who ended the round with disappointment etched across his features as he was dropped by a perfect left uppercut set up by a right cross.



Curtis Woodhouse (left) on the ropes against Willie Limond (right)

Limond started the 4th strongly, Woodhouse still shaken by the left at the very end of the last session. Limond backed Woodhouse onto the ropes but Curtis quickly regained his composure, digging hurtful left hooks downstairs.

Woodhouse dug to the body again, a place he would target for much of the contest. Woodhouse began to stick combinations together, but Limond covered up well taking nothing flush. After another good opening to the round from Woodhouse it was Limond who ended it on top, a trick picked up over 42 nights in the ring.

The 6th was one of Woodhouse's best rounds as he seemed to be in control for the whole 3 minutes. That's not to say it wasn't a close round, but Limond did not take over in the final 1:40 like he had in the previous 5 sessions.

Woodhouse was slowly upping the ante, and Limond wasn't all too content on going up with him. Instead Limond worked in his own spurts, once again showing his veteran noose.

Woodhouse was forcing Limond to work hard, but Limond had plenty of energy left in the tank, and he was expending it with confidence in the 8th round. Woodhouse while not quite in desperation mode, was beginning to walk onto punches that were handing the round to Limond.

It was a nip-and-tuck affair, neither really in command of any exchanges, but Limond was now moving more, jabbing and moving with Woodhouse growing in frustration. A three punch combination and a right downstairs from Woodhouse was responded by a stubborn jab and a right cross from Limond.

Woodhouse looked in control of the 11th as he was pushing for a knockout that he likely needed. But then came another sucker punch as he walked onto a right uppercut that sent the former football player to the canvas for a second time. Limond ended the round on top as Woodhouse was backed up heavily against the ropes.

For the opening two minutes of the final round Woodhouse's attack was ineffective but he ended the round with a champions finish. Hard body shots were followed by two hard left hooks and a big right over the top, but Limond was never in danger as he saw out the final 20 seconds to claim a majority decision win.

The scores read 113-113 and 116-111, 117-109 for Limond.

The opening bout of the televised card was an up-and-down encounter as bitter rivals Stephen Simmons10-0(5) stopped Wadi Camacho 12-3(8) in the 10th and final round.

The two Cruiserweights had come close to trading blows at the weigh in the day before and it was the much calmer Camacho that seemed in charge early. An intelligent jab and left crosses down the middle were able to tame the wild attacks from Simmons.

Then in the 3rd the jab of Wadi became a tentative weapon as Simmons was able to reach with the right hand without paying the price even when he came up short.



Wadi Camacho (left) backed up by Stephen Simmons (right)

There was now little conviction to Wadi's work as Simmons took over, big right hands were met by roars from his home crowd.

The momentum changed again in the 5th as Camacho began to find his groove once again, Simmons sat back in his own corner as Camacho wailed away.

Simmons darted in with one punch attacks that were easy enough to time for the Londoner. Camacho a little jaded himself couldn't take full advantage of the wild attacks from Simmons.

The 8th round saw both have big success, the right hand of Simmons met head on by the left of Camacho. Another right landed flush for Simmons in the 9th as he was clawing his way back into control of the contest.

Camacho ahead on the scorecards was caught by another hard right in the final round and finally his resistance was broken as he stumbled forward and onto the canvas. Wadi was never allowed out of the danger zone as Simmons zoned in for the stoppage, which came within moments of the referee waving them back into action.

The two embraced at the end showing great sportsmanship after the unpleasantness before the contest.