We have a rare title unification fight this weekend as Scotland’s three division titlist Ricky Burns (45-5-1, 14 KOs) puts his WBA junior welterweight belt on the line against Julius Indongo’s (21-0, 11 KOs) IBF belt. Namibian born and raised, Indongo will be traveling to hostile territory for his second consecutive fight when he appears in Glasgow on Saturday. This is easily the best fight of the weekend.
Julius Indongo was naturally an obscure fighter before he traveled to Russia and scored a massive upset by dethroning then 25-0 Eduard Troyanovsky with a one shot, first round knock out. Having never had the opportunity to fight outside of his native Namibia, Indongo had never been afforded the chance to make a name for himself on the international stage. When he was in Russia, he made the most of it.
Because of this obscurity, it is still hard to get a read on Indongo despite his legitimate big four sanctioning body belt. He got his title shot after a long reign as WBO’s Africa super lightweight titlist, an argument for the existence of regional titles like that if there ever was one. Namibia is one of the better boxing nations in Africa, probably behind only Ghana and South Africa on the continent, but it still doesn’t afford a fighter tests against known international opponents. The only recognizable name on his ledger prior to Troyanovsky was Kaizer Mabuza in a 2014 unanimous decision win, but Mabuza was four years past relevancy and on a dramatic career down slope.
Indongo’s clean, 40 second one punch KO in Russia suggests serious power, but his barely over 50% KO ratio argues in contrast that that moment was an aberration. Youtube doesn’t help much in this case as only random rounds of grainy handheld camera footage exist. What can be seen is that Indongo does well throwing straight punches from the proper distances and any power he does have is clearly in his straight left from the southpaw stance, but that is about it. The very fact that someone can not only go into a title fight, but a unification fight in the age of the internet, as this much of an unknown speaks to the power of Indongo’s story as an obscure underdog rising up. The clock is ticking on him, however, as at 34 he is probably already past his physical prime.
As unknown as Julius Indongo is, Ricky Burns as as equally known. Burns first mattered in 06-07 when he was written off as a potential world level challenger with two British/European level losses for British and European titles at super featherweight. He kept at it, however, winning 13 straight after his second loss. The winning streak carried him to a title shot against a then unbeaten Rocky Martinez. Surviving a first round knockdown, Burns rallied and won his first world title. He defended it four times against very subpar competition, but then he moved to lightweight.
In three fights at lightweight, Burns brought more value to his career than the rest of his career at that point to date combined when he defeated Michael Katsidis, Paulus Moses, and Kevin Mitchell sequentially. In that streak he picked up his second world title. Burns only got one more defense in, however, before things started to fall apart. In late 2013 he defended against Raymundo Beltran who broke Burns’ jaw in the second round. Burns valiantly fought to the final bell, to this date having never been stopped, but the scorecards that gave him a draw were very lucky to come by. What was unlucky was next being mandated to fight now pound for pound elite Terence Crawford. Burns kept it competitive early, but Crawford figured him out at the mid point and cruised to an easy decision in taking Burns’ belt. Next Burns tried to get back in contention at 135 with a title eliminator against Dejan Zlaticanin of Montenegro. Despite the split decision, that fight wasn’t that close. Burns was beat up and looked pretty past it against the younger challenger.
As as a past it former champion, it made sense for the handlers of top American prospect Omar Figueroa to bring Burns up in weight and over to the states to be a name on their young fighters resume. Burns dramatically over performed expectations in his stateside fight. He fought on very even terms with the younger, bigger prospect despite predictably terrible refereeing in Figueroa’s favor from veteran terrible referee Lawrence Cole. The decision was a toss up despite two downright stupid point deductions from Burns, but it came back shockingly wide in Figueroa’s favor. Despite not getting the win, the Scottish fighter’s career was revitalized. Three wins later he was in for the vacant WBA junior welterweight title he now holds. He won and defended it against notably poor opposition reminiscent of his 130 lb reign, but nonetheless he is now a three division champion.
What more is there to say about Ricky Burns? He has been counted out and come back. He has never been stopped despite being dropped hard a few times and once fighting 11 rounds with a broken jaw in a world title fight. He is a good fighter, but not a great fighter. Ricky Burns is maybe the worst three division champion in boxing history, but that is also like being the worst player on an all-star team. The accomplishment is still real even if it is watered down in the four belt era. His time as a 140 lb champion has been weak through two fights and it is not clear at all if that is about to change or not.
In truth, we don’t get this type of uncertainty in high level fights often enough. All too often we have a fairly predictable result going in. Saturday in Glasgow, we really do go in with a sense of not being sure how this is going to play out. What does Burns really have left at 34 years old, 48 fights in? How good was he even at his peak? Who is Julius Indongo? Are his 40 seconds of fame all he will ever have, or can he topple a three division champion? We don’t know, but come Saturday we will get to.
The card will be broadcast on Sky Sports in the UK and on AWE in the US, which I believe is only widely available on DirecTV. Terence Crawford, who already easily outpointed Burns, holds the other two belts at 140 and is a natural opponent for the winner. I don’t know how much interest there would really be for Crawford/Burns II, but the belts could make up for that should Burns prevail. If Indongo wins, the Crawford fight makes all the sense in the world.
