Its nice to see Paul Appelby back in action as the main support. I'm a big fan of Appelby, but he needs to show a bit more positive progression in his fight if there is to be any substance to calls for him to get a fight with Ricky. In my opinion, he's not at Ricky's level at the moment, and will need to have a nice little run of fights before there can be any serious considerations given to that match-up. Reversing the Martin lindsay loss would be a good start.
It is not nice to see Alex Arthur back in action on the undercard. His best days are long behind him and if he's still in the boxing for the money then its a shame. I've only ever spoken to Alex a few times he was always a very polite and friendly guy and I wish him the best, but with his recent weight fluctuations it just doesn't strike me as though he is 100% committed to the fight game anymore. If he is hoping to string some wins together and get a shot at Ricky Burns then I feel as though he's flogging a dead horse. That fight would go the exactly the same as the first, with the champion bossing his outgunned opponent for 12 rounds. Unfortunately for Alex he's not the champion this time around.
On paper it appears as though Andreas Evensen is seriously over matched in this fight, and it would be a smarter man than me to back him tomorrow night. In saying that, how many of you (billy nelson excluded
) seriously backed Ricky to beat Martinez when on paper it seemed as though he was being horrendously over-matched? I expect Ricky to be in incredible shape again and ready to put on a show worthy of the Braehead nights of old and hope for the fans in attendance that it is not going to be a early round blowout. I look forward to Ricky Burns re-invigorating Scottish boxing and thawing out the big freeze north of the border by putting the heat on Evensen.'Mon Ricky Burns, intae him fae the start!!!!!!!