Burns halts Mitchell in four

Ricky Burns underlined his place in the upper echelons of the lightweight decision with a ruthless fourth round stoppage of British rival Kevin Mitchell.

The WBO champion dropped Mitchell twice before finishing things with a barrage of blows in front of a vociferous Glasgow crowd.

It's a result which proves he can punch and will leave his critics eating humble pie.

The fight never looked like being a long and drawn out affair as both men looked to land jarring punches from the first bell.

In a tight opener, Burns set up a weighty right cross by solid double jabbing, but Mitchell soon fired back with a similar punch of his own.

It was in the second where Burns took charge of things. He managed to get past Mitchell's jab and force him onto the ropes before letting both fists go.

A similar attack a session later made the challenger bite down on his gumshield and bang on his chest for more.

And in the last round, Burns duly obliged with a left hook that connected on Mitchell's chin and sent the Dagenham man crashing onto his back.

Bravely, Mitchell got back to his feet, but within seconds a right hand from Burns dumped him onto the canvas once more.

Again he beat referee Terry O'Connor's count. However, Burns turned the screw again and a two-fisted attack brought about the third man's timely intervention.

Afterwards Burns said that he will be looking for a unification contest next because it is his dream to win the Ring Magazine title.

In the meantime, he'll be going back to his job in a sports store next weekend.