By Ryan Burton
Earlier today Raymundo "Sugar" Beltran (28-6-1) appeared to do more than enough to win his first world title when he faced WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (36-2-1) in his backyard (Glasgow, Scotland) but instead had to settle for a dubious draw.
krikya360.com spoke to the Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico native shortly after the draw was announced. This isn't the first time Beltran has came out on the short end of a controversial decision but you could tell by the sound of his voice that the pain and disappointment runs deep.
"I thought I did enough to win but you see how boxing is. I have been on this road a long time," said Beltran who felt that he was comfortably ahead on the scorecards. "I think I won by at least 4 points. I won the fight convincingly."
Burns shattered his jaw early in the fight and fought very defensively. For the most part, he tried to hold and clinch while using his jab. Top Rank matchmaker Brad Goodman (Beltran's promoter) has advised krikya360.com that Burns will need to have a plate inserted into his jaw and that he likely will be out of commission for a while.
Beltran sent Burns to the canvas in the 8th round with a two punch combination and said that he could tell early on that Burns was hurt but admitted that Burns lack of offense made it hard to engage the two time world champion.
"I saw that he was making noise like he was in pain. I knew something was wrong but it is hard to fight somebody when they don't fight back. He was just hugging and grabbing and using his jab a little bit. He didn't want to fight," Beltran stated.
The 32-year-old Beltran said that he would like a rematch but doesn't feel like he will be able to win a decision in the UK. Since he traveled to Scotland for this fight, he feels that Burns shouldn't have any issues coming to the United States for a rematch.
"I worked so hard to get to this point and they took it from me. It is messed up you know but what can I do?
I will fight anybody. I want a rematch but I don't want to come back for this same bullshit. If I do come back then this will happen again. Why would I want that? If we do it( the rematch) in the United States, then yeah I am all for it. If he wants to prove that he can beat me and that he is a champion I don't know why he wouldn't come to the United States," Beltran told krikya360.com.
Beltran received a lot of support from his Mexican and American fan base in the lead up to the fight and said that he wanted to thank all of his loyal fans for having his back. He said that he feels bad that he isn't able to bring the belt back to them but that he hopes to be back in the ring soon.
"I want to tell my fans thank you for all the support they are showing me. They were rooting for me and showing me so much support. I feel bad because I don't have the belt with me because I should be bringing the belt back to my fans, but it wasn't my fault. I did what I had to do to win but it didn't happen. I want to thank the fans for sticking by me and God bless. I want to be active and hope to be back in the ring soon. I didn't get hurt in this fight so they should see me in the ring soon," Beltran stated.
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