BILLY NELSON reckons that "experience" could be the key quality in helping Ricky Burns to victory in his March 1 WBO lightweight defence against American hot shot Terence Crawford at the SECC.

The Scot is already a firm second favourite with the bookies for his meeting with the heavily hyped 'next big thing' from across the pond, despite the fact this will be Burns' 10th world title fight while Crawford will be making his debut at global level.

The champion's trainer is quietly confident his man can upset the odds but Nelson admits that he is expecting a see-saw encounter which will test Burns' famed resolve to the limit.

He said: "Terence Crawford is an excellent fighter. He has a great jab and is a very sharp counter-puncher. He is also a fine switch-hitter although he tends to go orthodox over slipping into the southpaw.

"What I am expecting is the toughest fight that either boxer has had so far in their career and for me that is where Ricky's experience could prove crucial. Crawford has not fought at world title level and he has never been out of his comfort zone.

"That is the place we are looking to take him on March 1."

While the 26-year-old Crawford is unbeaten in 22 fights, with 16 stoppage victories, he is by no means unbeatable.

Scrutiny of the American's recent sixth-round KO of Mexican workhorse Alejandro Sanabria shows Crawford to be a slick boxer with a snake-like jab thrown with plenty of venom, particularly as a left hand fired from an orthodox stance.

While Crawford likes to switch-hit, on the evidence of this outing last June he is far more comfortable leading with the left jab.

But the Nebraskan is not particularly hard to hit and if the Burns jab is being timed and fired with peak velocity, Crawford may well be surprised by the champion's hand speed.

Further, the American tendency to over-hype their latest poster pugilists can be shown up, as was witnessed by the thrashing handed out to the classless Adrien Broner by Argentine warhorse Marcos Maidana recently.

But while there is no doubt Burns has the tools needed to dig deep for victory it is vital the Scot produces his best form.

That is something he has not done since the four-round destruction of Kevin Mitchell in September 2012.

Despite the harrowing jaw fracture at the hands of heavy-hitting Raymundo Beltran that saw a titanium plate inserted in the Scot's jaw after their controversial draw last September, Nelson is confident his charge will be firing on all cylinders come fight night.

He said: "Ricky is in great shape and has benefited from us adding a strength and conditioning coach to the camp. The jaw has been tested on plenty of occasions and there are no problems with it.

"We have just come back from a week's high-quality sparring down south with the likes of Ashley Theophane (former British light-welterweight champion) and with less than a fortnight to go, we are exactly where we want to be in terms of preparation."

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