Home Win for Burns and WBO Crown

Ricky Burns retained his WBO lightweight world crown with a unanimous points win over Paulus Moses at a packed Braehead Arena in Glasgow.

Moses was outboxed by the 28-year-old, who was awarded victory 119-110 120-110 117-111 by the three judges.

The Namibian challenger, who has 28 victories from 30 fights, stepped up the attack in the final rounds but it was too little too late.

It was Burns's first title defence in the lightweight division.

The Scot, who became full champion after Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez moved up to the welterweight division in January, found it difficult for most of the fight to pin down Moses.

Moses took to the centre of the ring from the first bell but Burns unleashed a couple of decent combinations to ignite a lively home crowd.

The champion got his supporters going again in the third as he rattled his opponent, with body shots and left hooks doing the damage.

But Burns was unable to take full advantage and allowed Moses a strong finish, finding Burns's chin in the ninth.

But the champion withstood the late challenge and saw out the fight to complete a classy and disciplined win - and is now targeting a bout with Essex fighter Kevin Mitchell.

Moses in Braehead Burns Night

Ricky Burns is looking forward to his rousing homecoming when he takes on Paulus Moses of Namibia on Saturday night.

The Scot has fought outside his home country for the past 12 months but returns to Glasgow to defend his WBO lightweight title.

The 6,000-capacity venue is sold out to see the fighter from Coatbridge and he promised not to disappoint his loyal fans.

"My weight was perfect so now it's roll on tomorrow," he said at the weigh-in. "I can't wait for it.

"It's going to be an amazing atmosphere in the Braehead Arena with every seat sold for my homecoming.

"I've got to do the business in the ring now with all these fans coming to see me in action.

"Moses is a tough tough fighter and I've not under-estimated him and the fans are in for a really good fight."

Training

His opponent holds a stellar record of 28 wins with just one loss, and Moses - like Burns - revealed he has not studied his opponent before the fight.

"I have never seen him fight and I haven't watched him on DVD either," said the 33-year-old. "We will see each other in action on Saturday.

"I don't look at my opponent, that is my coach's job. I just train to win. The preparation has been good and now we are looking forward to the fight.

"If you look at my record, all of my opponents have been tough. Ricky is a world champion so he will be tough. But everything is good. I have trained to win - I don't train to lose."

Promoter Frank Warren believes the capacity crowd will be a big advantage for Burns.

"If you are losing a fight, if you feel that it is slipping away from you, the fans can lift you," he said.

"You have to respect what this guy done, he has gone to Japan and won in the past. So I don't think he will be fazed by the crowd but I think it will lift Ricky."

But Moses countered: "The big crowd is not a problem. I like people to support boxing.

"I know Scotland will support Ricky because he is their boy but some of them will start supporting me, I will impress them."

Burns is WBO Champion

Ricky Burns is now full WBO lightweight champion after Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez moved up to the welterweight division.

The Coatbridge fighter won the interim title with victory over Michael Katsidis in London in November.

However, Marquez retained the full title while he decided on his future.

"When I beat Katsidis I felt like a world champion, but this makes it all real and I'm thrilled I'm now the full world champion," said Burns.

"For the last 10 years I've been grafting away in my career, but in the last couple of years it has really taken off with me beating [Roman] Martinez and then beating a great warrior like Katsidis to put me up with the best in the world."

Burns, will defend his new title against former world champion Paulus Moses of Namibia in Glasgow on 10 March.

Britain now has two world champions, with Burns joining WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly among the elite.

"Nathan's a great fighter and Britain has now got two world champions to be proud of who can fly the flag on the world stage," added Burns, who stepped up a division to fight Katsidis after an impressive stint as WBO champion at super-featherweight.