Though Houston is hosting the Saul Alvarez vs James Kirkland bout, the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas is also hosting a full night of boxing where the feature fights will air on CBS as part of the “Premier Boxing Champions” series. The main event in the Super Lightweight division pits the UK’s Ricky Burns (37-4-1) against undefeated Omar Figueroa Jr. Right now, the sport books have Figueroa as the favorite (-1100), with Burns returning at (+700). The twelve round bout has no over/under posted yet. Figueroa vacated a World title at Lightweight to move up in weight, and Burns is an established former world champion. Ever since he fought Raymundo Beltran to a draw back in September of 2013 in a match everyone thought Beltran won, the wheels have come off Burns’ career, as he has gone (1-2) in his last three fights. Despite a resume of over 40 fights, this is Burns first fight outside of the United Kingdom, so in going to Texas to face a Texan, Burns is going to feel a little bit of what his opponents have felt visiting him in England. The card is bolstered by two other feature fights that are already at the books. At Super Welterweight, tough Australian Anthony Mundine (47-6) faces Austin Trout (28-2) for the WBC’s Silver title. That bout sees Trout favored (-300) over Mundine, who is returning at (+250). This twelve round bout has an over/under set at 9 ½, with the over paying (-515) and the under at (+375). Mundine recently won the Silver belt with a win over previously unbeaten Sergey Rabchenko (25-0). He also hled the WBA’s International belt briefly in 2013, as he beat fading hall of famer Shane Mosley to earn the belt, but lost it to veteran Joshua Clottey in his first defense. All signs point to the veteran Mundine looking to make a last run at a world title, so he will need to win here. Trout’s two losses came in 2013, and they are to Erislandy Lara and Saul Alvarez, and he has bounced back with two wins since. With a wein over Miguel Cotto on his resume and going the full 24 rounds total with Alvarez and Lara hint that Trout has the edge in technical boxing. The third 12 round bout is for the WBA World Bantamweight title as champion Jamie McDonnell makes his first defense against Japan’s Tomoki Kameda. Despite being the champ, McDonnell is a betting underdog at (+210) for this one, as Kameda is favored paying (-250). There is no over/under at the books for this one yet. Kameda is the big story here, as he is undefeated at (31-0) and he already holds the WBO’s World Bantamweight title. Kameda comes from a fighting family where three of his brothers also box, and the clan famously left the close-knit world of Japanese boxing by signing with Al Haymon and by fighting in the United States. Kameda had a harder time than expected in his last outing, as he won a split decision over veteran Alejandro Hernandez (28-10-2) in Chicago back in November, so he would benefit from an explosive performance. Do not count McDonnell out, as the tough Brit has been fighting at a World Championship level for some time now, and he has not lost since March of 2008, winning 17 in a row.
