Boxing: 'Bring on anyone' says Burns after points win over Moses

RICKY BURNS: Won his sixth fight at world level on Saturday night (Getty Images)

Ricky Burns has his sights set on bigger fights after a confident if unspectacular first defence of his WBO lightweight belt here on Saturday night. The Scot scored a unanimous points win over Namibia-based Paulus Moses in front of a 6,000 capacity crowd here on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Burns has now won six fights at world level and will discuss options with promoter Frank Warren and manager Alex Morrison early next week. A fight with Londoner Kevin Mitchell, who holds the WBO inter-continental belt after a thrilling victory against John Murray, would capture the imagination of boxing fans on both sides of the border, but Burns was reluctant to name names after his latest comfortable triumph.

"I'm happy to get the win," Burns said. "It was a good fight and a good 12 rounds in the bank. I'll get a wee break now and sit down and talk about what happens next. There have been a few names out there mentioned.

"I have always said I will fight whoever they put in front of me. Rather than me shout out names and who I want to fight, I'll do my talking in the ring. Whoever they want to get me to fight, it's no problem at all."

Although Burns was never in trouble, the scorecard of 119-110, 120-110 117-111 probably did not reflect the difficulty Burns had against the 33-year-old former WBA lightweight champion, who has 19 knockouts to his name. Burns, who struggled with a minor shoulder injury in the final few rounds, acknowledged his opponent's threat had forced him into caution at times.

"Some of the rounds it was tough," Burns said. "He could punch, he caught me with a few good right hands. I've always said I can take a good shot."

The Coatbridge boxer, who dominated the first five rounds, added: "A few times I banged them [body shots] in, a couple of times I thought I hurt him. But he was taking them well and I didn't want to dive in because I didn't know if he was trying to draw me in.

"He was looking for the counters all the time and the right hand over the top, which he caught me with a couple of times. I thought I was doing all right but maybe I shouldn't have got caught those couple of times.

"But I'm still learning and I've always said there are still more improvements to come. I can look onwards and upwards now."