Burns v Katsidis & Groves v Smith on BoxNation TV

October 31, 2011   ·   0 Comments

There’s sure to be fireworks in an explosive night of boxing on Saturday 5 November as BoxNation TV broadcasts live coverage of Ricky Burns WBO lightweight title fight against Michael Katsidis at London’s Wembley Arena.

Burns has surrendered his WBO super-featherweight title, the belt he won last summer against Roman Martinez, to move up to lightweight and acknowledges that this fight will be his toughest-ever.

“I am preparing for the hardest 12 rounds of my career,” he said. “It’s less than a week away now and I’m just looking forward to getting in the ring and getting on with it.

“Moving up to lightweight was always on the cards so, when I was offered the fight with Michael for the interim title, it was the perfect chance to step up. It doesn’t really matter to me that the fight is in London. A boxing ring is a boxing ring to me and, once the two of us step inside those ropes, we know we need to get on with our jobs.

“We don’t need to hype up this fight. We’re both nice guys but, once we are in the ring, things will start to fly.”

Australian Katsidis is attempting to regain the interim championship that he has held twice previously and is wary of the threat his Glaswegian rival poses, “He is very dangerous, the most dangerous opponent I could have faced”, he said.

He said: “I always have to perform at my best regardless of who I fight, but this is a fight in which anything can happen. You can’t underestimate anyone, and I go in there with the expectation that I am going to have the hardest fight of my life.”

The fight headlines a massive night of boxing LIVE and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Platform Ch. 456) which also includes George Groves’ British and Commonwealth Super-Middleweight defence against Paul Smith.

Smith has nothing but victory on his mind to recapture the belt he had lost to James DeGale last December, “I want my title back. Regardless of the venue or where it is shown. I wouldn’t care if this fight was behind closed doors. I am just aiming to win this, nothing else is on my mind.”, he said.

George Groves returns to the ring for the first time after an impressive-narrow victory over DeGale in May. Groves has often spoke of his ambition to be a world champion and thinks a victory at Wembley at the start of next month will be another stepping stone, “A victory against Smith would be another step in the right direction in my career. He has been around a long time and is an established pro. It will be another scalp to add to my C.V. Whether a world title opportunity will come after this is uncertain but I would like that and I believe I will be ready for that next year.”

Ricky Burns vs Michael Katsidis & George Groves vs Paul Smith will be broadcast LIVE on BoxNation TV (Sky Ch 456) and online at http://www.boxnation.tv on Saturday 5 November from 7pm.

Tags: BoxNation TV, George Groves, Michael Katsidis, Paul Smith, Ricky Burns, Wembley Arena