Unification on the cards for Burns as bout with Indongo is confirmed

● Three-weight world champion will take on unbeaten Namibian in Glasgow

Ricky Burns’ fight against the unbeaten Namibian Julius Indongo in a WBA and IBF light-welterweight unification clash at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro has been confirmed for 15 April.

Burns (41 wins, 5 losses, 1 draw, 14 KOS) became Scotland’s first three-weight world champion when he claimed the vacant WBA title with an eighth-round stoppage of Michele Di Rocco at the same venue last May and successfully defended his belt with a unanimous points victory over Kiryl Relikh in October.

The Coatbridge fighter had then hoped to secure a lucrative fight against charismatic American Adrien Broner in Las Vegas, but will now take on dangerous puncher Indongo.

Indongo (21-0, 11 KOS) shocked the boxing world in December when he claimed the IBF title from previously-unbeaten Russian Eduard Troyanovsky with a 40-second first-round knockout in Moscow, but Burns is relishing the challenge.

“It’s a huge fight in the division and the kind of fight I need to be involved in at this stage of my career,” Burns said. “There were other names talked about, but I wanted the toughest, most dangerous fight out there. Indongo with his two belts was that man.

“He is a big, tall, rangy southpaw, but bring it on. I have no fear of anyone and it is only the massive fights for me now.

“Fighting in Glasgow is special for me. The crowd at the SSE Hydro has been electric the last two occasions and I expect it to be no different this time round.

“Their support means the world to me, the crowd has always been behind me and I want to put in a big performance for them again.”

Indongo has no problem with the prospect of facing another hostile reception away from home in a fight which will only be his second outside Namibia.

“It’s an absolute honour for me to fight Ricky, who I regard as an accomplished champion,” Indongo said.

“I respect what he has achieved so far, but I’m going to Scotland to rob him of his belt. I know it won’t be easy, but I’m comforted by the fact that I have a good team and passionate Namibian fans, and I have every intention of making them smile and unifying the division on 15 April.”

0 Ricky Burns celebrates after beating Michele Di Rocco to win the WBA title at the Hydro in May. Manny Pacquiao will add another fight to his lengthy CV when he takes on Australian welterweight Jeff Horn on 23 April at a venue to be decided.

Promoter Duco Events said the location for the fight involving the 38-year-old Pacquiao could be in one of Australia’s major cities, possibly Horn’s hometown of Brisbane, or the Middle East or the US.

“The preference for all parties is for the fight to be held in Australia, and we are working towards this outcome,” said Duco director Dean Lonergan, who met with Top Rank chief Bob Arum this week to set up the fight.

Arum said he wants the fight to take place at an outdoor stadium, and it would be beamed into 159 different countries. Scotland’s women went down 4-0 to Spain in the second Test in Valencia yesterday but coach Gordon Shepherd hailed it as a better performance than the 2-1 reversal in the opening match on Tuesday.

“This was an excellent performance in the first three-quarters of the game, we created several chances but just could not put them away,” said Shepherd. “But as we pushed for the equaliser in the final quarter we became exposed at the back and lost further goals.”

The Scots went behind after five minutes through a clever deflection by Spain’s Maria Tost. The Scots mounted sustained pressure on the Spanish goal, including a penalty corner opportunity, but reached the interval still a goal down.

Apart from a brilliant goalline save by Susan Mcgilveray on her 100th cap, it was all Scotland and excellent chances fell to Fiona Bruce, Amy Brodie, Nikki Lloyd and Becky Merchant, but the equaliser remained elusive.

The search for parity finally proved Scotland’s undoing as they conceded late goals to Carmen Cano (2) and Berta Bonastre.

The third Test match is scheduled for today and Shepherd will be hoping for a positive result. Spain are favourites for the World League round two tournament at the same venue early next month.

Meanwhile, Derek Forsyth, Scotland men’s head coach, has expressed disappointment that leading striker Kenny Bain has declared himself unavailable for the World League round two tournament in Belfast at the start of March.

Bain, who has played more than 150 times for his country, has cited club commitments for his absence. The striker has played in the Netherlands for several years and is presently contracted to top side Rotterdam.

Bain’s absence is a blow to Forsyth’s hopes of claiming one of the top two spots in Belfast and qualifying for the semi-finals of the World League for the first time.