By Jake Donovan
Ryan Burnett barely had 12 hours to celebrate his most recent win before receiving his marching orders for his next ring appearance.
The unbeaten bantamweight from Belfast is coming off of a six-round decision win Friday evening on the undercard of Ovill McKenzie's split nod over Matty Askin.
“Ryan is making steady progress in his career, this fight was about demonstrating patience and creating openings to land clean punches," noted Adam Booth, Burnett's manager and trainer. "We have been together 6 months and have 4 wins out of 4 fights. I am pleased with Ryan's performance tonight and it was good to get the TV exposure."
The bout marked just the second time Burnett (8-0, 6KOs) has been forced to go the distance, but escaped unscathed and is now poised for an undercard spot on the big April 11 show in Brooklyn, New York.
Topping the bill in Brooklyn is a showdown between unbeaten World 140 lb. champion Danny Garcia and reigning alphabet titlist Lamont Peterson. Their bout will be staged at a 143 lb. catchweight, airing live on NBC in the United States and on BoxNation in the UK.
Where Burnett's motivation comes in appearing on the show is in support of the evening's co-headliner as his stable mate, Ireland's Andy Lee defends his middleweight belt versus unbeaten Peter Quillin.
Burnett is a long way off from joining Lee at the sport's top level, but continues to progress with each fight - and more important, willing to embrace the patience that comes with such progress.
"I've been knocking people out recently, but it was good to get six rounds under my belt and try out new moves," Burnett stated after the fight. It is all a learning experience and part of my apprenticeship in the pro game."
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox