Ricky Burns Wants a Year End Shot at Roman Martinez

By Mark Vester

Following his recent seven round knockout of Michael Gomez at Glasgow's Bellahouston Leisure Centre, super featherweight Commonwealth champion Ricky Burns said he was ready for a step up. He would like to land a major title shot by the end of the year. One of the fighters he would like to face in undefeated WBO champion Roman Martinez, who recently dethroned Burns' countryman Nicky Cook for the title.

"I'm going to sit down with my management and if we can get another quick defence of the Commonwealth, so be it, because I'm still learning. Every fight, I'm getting better and better so there's no rush for me at the moment. My hand speed is getting better and better with every fight so, my next fight, I'll just hopefully keep improving," Burns told Sportinglife.

If he can't get Martinez, he is also interested in a unification with unbeaten British champion Kevin Mitchell.

"There are big fights out there for me now," Burns said. "There's Kevin Mitchell, the British champion. I've been after the fight for a while. Maybe we could get that on. But if any of those bigger fights come up for me, I'm more than willing to take them."

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