THE narrow pathway beneath the Braehead Arena morphed into Ricky Burns’ boulevard of broken dreams through the eyes of the man walking by his side, writes Scott Mullen.
The date was June 27, the year 2014. Not a good one for the shining beacon of Scottish boxing. Indeed, it had been over 12 months since his last victory prior to walking out of the ring and the subdued crowd behind him back to his dressing room. Pondering where to turn next.
It was late at night and Burns had just been dealt another blow. After going all the way with the unbeaten Dejan Zlaticanin, a points decision went against him as the man from Montenegro claimed the vacant WBC International lightweight title. Coming just under six months after a bruising and comprehensive defeat to Terence Crawford at the SECC and nine from that controversial draw with Raymundo Beltran, the rock who had promoted Burns to a household name was lost for words as he watched his friend in front of him return to his dressing room.
“I remember being in his dressing room after the loss to Dejan Zlaticanin,” said Eddie Hearn, “and I was thinking: ‘That’s it, you’ve got to retire.’ “I was honestly thinking: ‘Come on, you don’t want to drop down to domestic or even European level. You’re done. You’ve achieved what you want, you’re a two-weight world champion.’ “His confidence had been completely broken after the fights against Terence Crawford, Ray Beltran and Zlaticanin. Now he believes again, he goes into fights believing he can win. He was a broken man after the Zlaticanin fight.
“But he won’t give in. He’s in that gym working harder than any of those young kids. I’ve never seen a transformation like this. Not at the stage of the career he was at. They don’t have a resurgence at that point. But, because he’s kept himself fit and healthy, anything is possible. Now he has a chance of the biggest night of his career – at 34.”
Almost to the day, in fact.
Burns celebrated his birthday yesterday at a grand press conference in Glasgow as the spotlight falls on him as he attempts to make history once more. With Hearn to his left, the man from Coatbridge sat at the top table just two away from Julius Indongo, the undefeated Namibian who will be his opponent in this unification contest at the super lightweight division.
It is a glorious chance for the birthday boy to add Indongo’s IBF title to his WBA belt at the Hydro as he aims to become the first Scotsman to do so. For the man who tried to help pick up the pieces almost three years ago, Hearn has faith.
He said: “The last fight at Braehead was a disaster for us. And that’s when you think, as a promoter, that not only is Ricky Burns done – but the crowd is done as well. We went from 8000 to 3500 at Braehead. I was thinking: ‘Jesus.’”
“Now we’ve come back – and this will be right up there, in crowd terms, with the likes of the Crawford fight.”
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