Coach Booth on why fearless Ryan Burnett can retain his world title in the old-fashioned way
PAST and present, Adam Booth has worked with fighters who have fought at elite level so he is not a coach who can be easily impressed.
WBA World bantamweight champion Ryan Burnett finds himself in a gym alongside the highly regarded unbeaten Commonwealth welterweight title holder Josh Kelly and fellow Belfast man Michael Conlan, who is carving out a potential glittering career. Three men with high expectations of how far they can go in the Noble Art.
In regard to Burnett, who defends his WBA title this Saturday night against legend Nonito Donaire (below) in the World Boxing Super Series, Booth zones in one particular quality that encapsulates why the 26-year old is at the top of the sport.
“For Ryan, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s about thriving on the competition,” said Booth, who has guided Burnett from British title glory to unified bantamweight champion over the past three years.
“Sometimes winning and losing is out of your hands because they are abstract thoughts but focusing on competition alone means that doubt or fear doesn’t come into the equation because the focus is on the competition.
“There is an old school competitiveness about Ryan. He fights without fear of consequence.
“His attitude is total commitment without hesitation. He stays in the moment of the challenge. That is evident when you see what he has done in his last three fights and he hasn’t even had 20 fights as a professional yet.”
Burnett jumped from domestic level to the world scene last June when he bamboozled Lee Haskins with his sharp footwork and guerilla attacks to lift the IBF belt. Four months later, he bagged the WBA title as well, having outpointed Zhanat Zhakiyanov before vacating the IBF title due to the pressure of making a mandatory defence against Manny Rodriguez — one of three men who have already made it through to the semi-finals of the WBSS bantamweight tour- nament.
The WBSS has brought an exciting new dimension to boxing with many of the best fighters in a particular division signing up to a three-fight format over 12 months. The bantamweights have delivered a line-up which would have any fight fan salivating over the prospect of the semi-finals. IBF champion Rodriguez will face Japanese sensation Nagoya Inoue, while WBO champion Zolani Tete awaits the winner of Burnett-Donaire, the last of the quarter-finals.
Booth and his protege had no hesitation in entering the WBSS, even though the Belfast man could have manoeuvred his way to some easier pay-days with title defences against less dangerous opposition.
“In terms of entering the World Super Series, Ryan doesn’t just want to be a world champion and earn good money, he wants to be the best and he wants to be tested by the best,” added Booth.
“What that proves to people who don’t know him is that here is a young man who is a good fighter and a champion but is not content. A lot of champions are not like that, they wouldn’t want to be tested so hard every time but he does.
“Any fighter no matter what the age wants to improve and he is improving but in the gym it is not about me sitting back and admiring him. It’s about me pushing him, testing him so that when it comes to fight time he is mentally, physically and emotionally ready for the challenge he faces. That’s my job.
“He chose Nonito Donaire who is by far the best of the guys he could have faced, the most technically accomplished of anyone in the series and is the only one to have ever been on the pound for pound list.
“Donaire has great balance and I have used Donaire in teachings when I am talking about balance and have done that with Ryan so he knows all about Donaire. He knows his qualities and that’s why he wanted him... and that brings you back to what Ryan is all about.”