Burns defends WBO title; Wlodarczyk retains WBC crown

Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (4E Sports) – Ricky Burns floored Kevin Mitchell twice in the fourth round to retain his World Boxing Organization lightweight belt via technical knockout win Saturday at Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC).

Not known as a knockout artist, Burns (35-2, 10 KO) took the fight to his opponent from the get-go, unrelenting in his display of punching power to successfully defend his title for the second time.

After decking Mitchell (33-2, 24 KO) twice, Burns continued his assault with a flurry of unanswered punches that forced the referee to stop the fight with one second left in the fourth round.

After the win, Burns called out his promoter Frank Warren and manager Alex Morrison to arrange a unification bout against International Boxing Federation champion Miguel Vazquez or World Boxing Council champ Antonio DeMarco.

“I just feel so much physically stronger now. On Monday, I will be on the phone to my promoter Frank Warren and my manager Alex Morrison and, hopefully, we can push for a unification fight,” Burns said after the victory.

Meanwhile, WBC cruiserweight champion Krzysztof “Diablo” Wlodarczyk retained his title with a 12-round unanimous decision win over mandatory challenger Francisco Palacios in their rematch at People’s Hall in Wroclaw, Poland.

All three judges favored the champion via scores of 116-112, 117-112 and 116-113. The champion won a controversial split decision over Palacios last April, also in Poland.

The victory improved Wlodarczyk’s record to 47-2-1 (33KOs) while Palacios dropped to 21-2 (13KOs).

There were no knockdowns in the fight but Palacios got into trouble in the tenth round when the champion unleashed a series of punches that rocked the challenger.

Aware that he was behind the scorecards, Palacios applied the pressure in the last two rounds, landing some blows to the champion. Wlodarczyk, however, recovered with timely punches to keep Palacios at bay.

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