Burns fired up for defence
Published on: 28th May, 2009
Burns fired up for defence | Related News
Ricky Burns believes next month’s fight against Kevin O’Hara is the most important of his career so far.
The 26-year-old will defend his Commonwealth featherweight title for the third time in Glasgow and is hoping victory will take him closer to a world title shot.
Burns suffered momentum-stopping defeats to Alex Arthur and Carl Johanneson earlier in his career and does not want to slip down the pecking order again.
“This is my world title fight,” said Burns. “If I get beaten, it’s another year or two years waiting to get back in the title mix again so this is the biggest fight of my career.”
“Obviously, if a world title fight comes up, I’m more than happy to take it.
“I’m in no rush. I’m only 26; I’m just going to leave it to my management and promotion team.
“I know that they’ll get me the fights at the right time.”
Burns has a poor knockout record but had been operating in higher weight divisions earlier in his career, and the switch to the 130lb limit has paid dividends with two consecutive wins by stoppage.
“I’m getting better and better with every fight,” he said. “If you look at the first fight I started training with Billy Nelson, the improvements have been coming.
“Every fight seems to be getting better and better and this is just another chance for me to prove it.”
However, Irishman O’Hara (16-4) also claims to have improved lately, winning his last three fights.
“From the Willie Limond fight (in 2005), I’ve come on leaps and bounds as a fighter,” he said.
“I was very immature when I took that fight but now I’m ready for whatever comes.”
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