Ricky Burns returns with victory in Leeds; Callum Smith, Dave Ryan and Brian Rose win
Sunday 5 October 2014 09:05, UK
Ricky Burns and Brian Rose both got back to winning ways in Leeds with much-needed victories in their returns to the ring.
Rose scored a first round stoppage over Ignacio Fraga as he returned to action following his failed world title attempt
“I trained harder for this fight than I've ever trained for any other fight and that's the truth,” said the Blackpool man. “I'm back and it's a nice feeling. I'm not going to start saying daft things but I'm back with a bang and I can only beat what is put in front of me.”
Scotland’s Burns has had a tough time of it and although he got a clear-cut victory over Alexandre Lepelley it was far from convincing as he stepped up to light-welterweight but indicated his future does not lie in that division.
Burns says he is now likely to return to lightweight to continue his career after a tough time, but it was far from a promising showing from him as he could only shine in spells of the fight.
“Some of the rounds I think I boxed alright,” said Burns. “He was very tough and he could take a good shot, at the end of the fourth round my hands were starting to get sore. I moved up to light-welterweight but I've got a few big decisions to make over the next couple of weeks about that but I'm just glad to get back with a win.”
Smith shines
It was another short night for Liverpool super-middleweight Callum Smith, but his third-round stoppage of Rafael Sosa Pintos was merely a tune-up for his WBC eliminator against Nikola Sjekloca next month.
Smith once again boxed with authority and poise against a smaller and vastly inferior opponent, and it was a set of stinging body shots that eventually did the trick, in what will be Smith’s last easy night’s work.
Smith’s promoter Eddie Hearn now sees the youngster really stepping up his game, and possibly fighting for a world title sometime next year if everything goes to plan.
“We've made a huge fight for him against Sjekloca, an eliminator for the WBC title,” Hearn told Sky Sports at ringside.
“Tonight was a routine victory, the hands are fine and he moves on to that huge fight on the 22nd (of November). Next summer he will be ready for the WBC title, whoever has got it - hopefully George Groves.”
Bad night for Nurse
Derby’s Dave Ryan sprung something of a surprise when he beat Tyrone Nurse on a majority points decision to claim the commonwealth light-welterweight title in an entertaining contest.
Ryan stunned Nurse by putting him down in the first and second rounds of the fight with nothing more than straightforward jabs.
Although Nurse recovered to have the better of the argument from then on, leaving Ryan with a nasty-looking swollen eye, the damage of those two knockdowns was too much to get over as two judges gave it to Ryan by a round while the third had it as a tie.
“I'm speechless, it means the world,” said Ryan. “I fought my heart out for this and I'm so glad I got the decision. I knew it was a close fight and it could have gone either way.”
Nurse added: “I think it was close, it was a hard fight. Those stupid knockdowns where I got caught with silly jabs were what won him the fight. I'll just have to learn and start doing what I'm supposed to do. I'm 24 so I'm still a baby.”
