Rick Burns Ready To Rock Against Michele Di Rocco

By Terence Dooley

Scotland’s Ricky Burns (39-5-1, 13 KOs) and Italy'’s Michele Di Rocco (40-1-1, 18 early) went head-to-head at a press conference in Scotland earlier today to talk up their Eddie Hearn-promoted vacant WBA World light-welterweight title encounter. The fight takes place at Glasgow's SEE hydro venue on May 21 and will be shown live on Sky Sports here in the U.K.

Burns hopes to lift a portion of a world crown for the third time—he previously held WBO belts at Super-feather and lightweight respectively—and for the first time at 140lbs, but the visiting fighter believes it is his time to shine, and that he will break a lot of Scottish hearts in the process.

“I am delighted for the chance to fight for the World title honour to fight in Scotland—it will be a great place for me to become world champion,” predicted Di Rocco, 33. “I have great respect for Ricky—I have seen him fight and he’s a great warrior—but I’m not afraid to come here and taste the great atmosphere.”

“Before this was announced we had so many options, but the chance to come back to Glasgow and fight at the Hydro, I was so excited,” revealed Burns. “The response to the announcement was unbelievable. It’s going to be a great night, but a hard night’s work ahead.

“[Trainer] Tony [Sims] and I are already working on the game plan to land the title and we’ve got a long camp to get everything right. I can’t take the smile off my face. I can’t put into words what it would mean to be three-weight world champ I am going to put myself through hell in the next 10 weeks to make sure I get it right on the night.”

Indeed, the 32-year-old cited his versatility when stating his case for a win. He said: “No matter what fight I have gone into, I can box but I get carried away and get into a tear-up. We’ve been watching his fights and working on things, but if it comes down to going toe-to-toe we all know I am happy to get into it.”

The undercard hosts a Scotland versus England light-welterweight title showdown between former holder Willie Limond and and current Champion Tyrone Nurse, two in-form fighters. Limond, 37, believes that he will thrill the Celtic contingent by handing his 26-year-old opponent a third professional defeat (against 32 wins, a draw and six KOs).

“It’s great to be a part of such a huge occasion,” said Limond (39-4, 11 stoppages) when asked about the fight. “Tyrone is one of the most underrated fighters in Britain, but I can pull it off.”

“I've spent time here as a sparring partner for Ricky and Glasgow crowds are great,” enthused Nurse. “Willie has a great resume and he's done big things in the sport, but I think that I am the best in Britain and I'll prove that on May 21st.”

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