Johanneson and Burns to serve up February feast in Leeds by Paul Concannon Dec 19th 2006

Christmas arrived early for Leeds' British super-featherweight champion Carl Johanneson and Scottish challenger Ricky Burns with the announcement that they are to fight one another at Leeds Town Hall on February 9th for Johanneson's belt. “I relish the chance to fight one of the leading super-featherweights in the UK in front of my hometown fans in Leeds. Being independent and having an opportunity to fight one of Frank Warren's top men in Yorkshire means a lot,” said Carl. Johanneson's manager Rick Manners said, “It's Carl's time now and it's entirely up to him – if Carl gets through Burns the world's his oyster; if he can't do it here in fortress Leeds, where can he? I'm confident he can prevail against Burns. I just hope Ricky turns up to fight him!” With a glint in his eye, Manners added, “We are delighted to have ITV fighter Burns coming to Leeds to fight on SKY – it's a great fight!” Johanneson will be making his second defence of the title he won against Londoner Billy Corcoran in July, and the bout represents Burns' second attempt at domestic honours, having valiantly challenged previous champion Alex Arthur back in February of this year.

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