By Terence Dooley
Ricky Burns (41-7-1, 14 KOs) makes his return to the ring when he meets the ever-reliable TBA on June 16 at Newcastle’s Metro Arena in fight number 50 and his manager, Alex Morrison, believes that his fighter still has a title run in him.
Morrison confirmed that Burns will box a 10 rounder when speaking to Mark Pirie of the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser and he hopes that it will be the first step on a new road to glory for the former three-weight world titlist.
Despite two defeats in his last two, decision losses to Anthony Crolla and Julius Indongo respectively, Burns has remained in shape and wants to make a statement on the bill, which is promoted by Eddie Hearn and is co-headlined by Josh Kelly and Lewis Ritson.
“He is in great shape, he is ready to go,” said Morrison.
“There is no danger of him being off at all—he is a total fitness addict. We have been in a fight camp for a while now just waiting on the next opponent, so we are now just waiting for Eddie (Hearn) to confirm. We have been ready for a while now, so Ricky just can't wait to get back in the ring. Ricky's focus now is on the lightweight division and climbing up that ranking again. He's confident and ready to go.”
Burns's lost to Indongo when trying to annex his WBA World light-welterweight titles with his opponents IBF and IBO belts. Soundly beaten in that one, he moved down to 135lbs to meet long-time rival Crolla in what was a competitive fight against the former world titlist.
His ability to take rounds from Crolla has prompted him to have another run at lightweight, where he held the WBO's title between 2012 and 2014 before losing to Terence Crawford in March 2014.
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