It’s a Burns night in September!

Despite the best efforts of some of Frank Warren's underlings, BoxRec News was able to report on the celebration of the whole of Scotland, as Ricky Burns made WBO super-featherweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez look cumbersome, crude and downright flat-footed with a unanimous points win in a packed Kelvin Hall. The Coatbridge boxer defied the odds and pundits to produce what was undoubtedly his best ever performance in a boxing ring.

Burns started brightly enough and looked confident enough, but this was deceptive as Martinez caught Burns with a straight right towards the end of the opener, putting the Coatbridge man on the seat of his pants to take the round on that basis alone.

Burns was boxing and the Puerto Rican was allowing him to do so, while always looking menacing when he unloads on the Scotsman.

Martinez is almost crude in his work, slugging like a raw novice, while Burns was boxing with skill. The third session cancelled out the two point advantage the Puerto Rican had from the opener and Burns delivered a peach of an uppercut which rattled the champion.

It is almost as though Martinez dismissed Burns as an opponent through the fourth round and as a result, the local boxer was picking up the rounds after the opener. Round five and Burns was in control though he needed to keep his concentration for every second of this bout, and was finishing it with a real flurry which almost had Martinez on the canvas, only to be saved by the bell.

If Burns had a concussive punch then he’d have the belt by the end of the sixth, but in the seventh Martinez really woke up and caught Burns with heavy shots which the local man did well to cope with.

The ninth saw Martinez catch Burns with heavy shots when the local man looked to be in a bit of trouble despite boxing smarter than the champion, but he (Burns) does see the bell allow him to regroup.

The champion was looking ragged in the tenth but always dangerous. Burns, though tired, was still boxing with desperate opponent looking to nullify the better skills with stinging bombs.

The final round was a volcanic eruption of noise as the fans sensed Burns was about to be crowned 'world champion' and Burns could even have stopped Martinez at this late stage! Martinez did deliver a low blow in the final round which gave the Coatbridge man a bit of breathing space, but his overall performance was simply magnificent and he outboxed the Puerto Rican throughout.

Martinez will undoubtedly regret treating Ricky Burns with the apparent disdain he showed prior to this bout, since he now goes back to the Caribbean with no belt.