Indongo beats Burns to unity s-lightweight belts

GLASGOW, April 16, (AFP): Namibia’s Julius Indongo beat Ricky Burns in front of the Scot’s home Glasgow crowd on Saturday to unify the super-lightweight division with a unanimous points win.

Indongo put his International Boxing Federation and International Boxing Organisation titles on the line against Burns, who entered the ring at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro as the reigning World Boxing Association champion in this division.

But there was rarely much doubt about a contest that Indongo won 120-108, 118-110 and 116-112 on the judges’ scorecards to extend his unbeaten record as a professional to 22 victories. “I feel very proud,” Indongo told Sky Sports. “My home crowd are watching. It’s for the whole of Africa. This is so great.

“I am very proud for opening my doors and now the world can see me.”

Burns, Scotland’s first three-weight world champion, had no complaints about the result, saying: “The better man won, no excuses. “He was so, so awkward. He was a lot better than we thought he was going to be, he can hit as well.”

Burns added: “I’m going to have all the doubters saying I’m finished — but I’ll come again.

“He started the rounds fast and the height and reach advantage meant he was out of my distance.”

Burns found the southpaw difficult to deal with almost from the opening bell and was marked on the face by Indongo in the first round. He gave home fans something to cheer about when he landed a powerful right hand in the sixth round, although never connecting with enough quality shots to truly trouble Indongo.