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Burns press conference quotes, mentions Broner and Crawford

Fighters Network
29
May
Burns poses with the WBA 140-pound title belt. Photo: Shabba Shafiq

Burns poses with the WBA 140-pound title belt. Photo: Shabba Shafiq

On Saturday, in Glasgow, Scotland, Ricky Burns could finally see light at the end of the tunnel.

European champion Michele Di Rocco was looking for a place to fall and the vacant WBA junior welterweight title was within the Scotsman’s grasp. The end came at 1:57 of the eighth round, following a virtuoso performance, and Burns could close the lid on a nightmare – once and for all.

It all began during a lightweight title defense against Raymundo Beltran in September 2013. Burns held on to his belt with a contentious draw but he was floored, his jaw was broken, and so was a run of luck that saw him claim WBO belts at junior lightweight and lightweight.

The flood gates opened and things went from bad to worse.



He lost respect from a large contingent of fans and media. He lost his title to Terence Crawford. He lost a comeback fight to the then-unknown Dejan Zlaticanin. He lost to Omar Figueroa following a gallant effort. He lost, or came out on the wrong end of, a legal battle with former promoter Frank Warren and was declared bankrupt.

Defeat. Defeat. Defeat.

The only way was up and Burns, a born fighter, was never going to throw in the towel. On Saturday night he made his point, claiming a place in boxing history by becoming Scotland’s first ever three-weight world titleholder.

“After everything that’s happened, to sit here as world champion again – I just don’t know what to say,” said Burns, coming close to tears at the post-fight press conference. “I cannot believe that crowd out there. I’ve been away for two years but they turned up for me tonight and that shows that we should have big fights here.”

Eddie Hearn – Head of Matchroom Boxing

What a night and what an atmosphere. Ricky Burns rolls back the years to make history and become a three-weight world champion. The first Scotsman ever to do that and the third Brit (after Bob Fitzsimmons and Duke McKenzie) ever to do it. It was a great performance and I’m so pleased for Ricky and (trainer) Tony (Sims) who have worked very hard in the gym.

You will get people being negative about Di Rocco but that was just a great performance. Ricky’s feet were great and the confidence was back. In terms of achievement, what Ricky has done has never been done before and it will never be done again.

Ricky Burns

After the first round, Tony said to me that things couldn’t get any easier because all the things we’d worked on in training were working in the ring. I’d watched a couple of Di Rocco’s fights and the plan was to stick to boxing for the first half and then stick it on him. But after the first round, Tony said I could just box all night because Di Rocco was so flat-footed and he couldn’t catch me.

I’m so happy with that performance. I owed it to myself and I owed it to Tony. Eddie delivered the fight and I wanted to prove to everyone that I still had more big nights left in me.

I will fight anybody. I’ve already fought some of the biggest names out there and at 140 pounds, you have great fights available. You have Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol coming up and, if it came to it, I’d fight Crawford again. If Adrien Broner can get his finger out (make weight) then that fight is another option, or even a rematch with Omar Figueroa over here (Scotland).

Tony Sims

Ricky is a pleasure to work with and I’m so pleased for him because he’s worked hard despite all the criticism he’s had in recent years. With the Figueroa fight, I think the referee (Lawrence Cole) stopped Ricky from winning that night and his performance showed us that he still had something in him.

Don’t forget, Ricky lost his title (on points) to Crawford but he put up a credible performance against a great fighter. (Crawford) hasn’t gone the distance since and has knocked everyone out (sic. Raymundo Beltran lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Crawford in November 2014).

Ricky has just gone outside his weight division and won another world title. (Coming into this fight) Di Rocco was 40 wins and one loss. He’s an experienced fighter, a very good amateur and Ricky made him look like a novice.

Tom Gray is a member of the British Boxing Writers’ Association and has contributed to various publications. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing

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July 2016

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