Hosea Burton opens up on his domestic light-heavyweight rivals
Hosea Burton talks to John Dennen about his quest to win back the British title
‘I’M NOT SCARED OF ANYONE. I’M NOT DUCKING’
AFTER losing his British light-heavyweight title to Frank Buglioni in a thrilling battle in December, Manchester’s Hosea Burton returned with an eight-round points victory in March, and is determined to work his way back to the top, especially if that means a clash with London rival Anthony Yarde.
You’ve been ordered to fight Anthony Yarde by the Board, but Yarde is calling out Frank Buglioni. What do you make of the whole situation?
Yarde is calling out Buglioni because I was way ahead in that fight with Buglioni. Now he obviously sees that as an easier fight than fighting me.
He just sees an easier route by fighting Buglioni. Because, in my opinion, I’m the best lightheavyweight still. Frank got lucky. Yarde doesn’t want to fight me. Frank Warren doesn’t want him to fight me. So that’s really about it. I don’t just see them interested in fighting me. I’m too big of a threat.
He’s only fought three Englishmen. The rest have been foreigners. Fight me. Go on. I was ex-british champion, so if he wants to prove himself let him prove himself against me. Then the winner of us gets the winner of Callum Johnson and Buglioni. If he beats me that means he’s worthy of fighting one of them two.
So do you think it’s a bit much him saying he should go straight to a British title fight?
He’s sort of dismissing me. How can anyone dismiss me? I’m not one for shouting people out, calling people out. Because it’s just not me, I’m not much of a talker. But I am a bit of a fighter and I am a fighting man and I will fight anybody. So the Boxing Board has made this fight, so why not just have it? I’m not scared of anyone. I’m not ducking and diving trying to get away from people. I do what I do. I fight. I don’t care who it is. I’m in this game for one reason, it’s to win fight. Not to duck and dive and bypass people.
What do you think of the Buglioni fight now?
It made perfect sense for me and Frank to get that on again. He wasn’t winning that fight. I was way ahead going into the last round. I was even winning the last round. I’ve seen an opportunity where I thought I could have finished him. The very last punches I threw I landed clean on Frank. Frank stumbled backwards, looked like he was gone. I went in to finish him, he threw a shot, it came out of nowhere, if you look at the replay he wasn’t looking where it was going, he threw a desperation punch and it caught me. It was his bonus ball, he won the lottery that night and that was it. But I’ve always said me and Callum Johnson, we are the best two light-heavyweights in Britain, and that’s still how it is. So when Callum does fight Buglioni, Callum will beat Buglioni same way I was beating Buglioni. Buglioni does beat Yarde as well. That’s just the way I see it going.
Do you think you could miss out on your rematch with Buglioni?
I do think I could miss out because I do think Johnson will beat him. Then it’ll be me and Johnson for the belt. Because I’ll beat Yarde. That’s if he plucks up enough courage to have a fight, and Johnson will beat Buglioni.
Would you fight Callum, given that you’re gymmates?
We’re not just gym-mates, we’re good friends. So it would be a horrible thing to do. Joe [Gallagher] is the manager of me and the manager of Callum so… it’s just one of those things. It’s a shame we’re both the same weight because we’re both the best in Britain.
Yarde has looked good in his fights. He looks massive at light-heavy. What do you think of him as a fighter?
They’re saying he’s six foot [tall]. The man’s 5ft 10ins, and that’s with his high heels on. He’ll be 5ft 10ins at the most… He’s got the body for it, Frank Warren’s posterboy. I’ve watched a bit of him and, you know, yeah he’s stopped plenty of his opponents, he’s stopped nearly all of them, but is he a concussive puncher? No he’s not. I know he’s stopped them. He’s got fast hands, a bit raw, a bit novicey. I’ve come across plenty of [fighters like] him in the amateurs. I’ve come across a few in the pros. He brings nothing that I haven’t seen before. He had 12 amateur fights. I had over 70 and I’m way more experienced than him. I’m an EX-ABA champion. He was a raw novice. How can he sort of say he’s above British class and he’s above me? It’s like taking a step back. I find that very disrespectful, them even trying to say that. Because it’s total rubbish and anybody who even knows about boxing, not just the average Joe, but people who know about boxing know that’s total rubbish.
If he doesn’t take the eliminator, where will that leave you?
That means I’m the next in line. I’m not chasing Yarde. It’s not like I’m dying to fight him, it’s just I fight, I’m a boxer. I’m not a ducker or a slider, I’m a fighter. If you want to fight me all you’ve got to do is knock on my door.