I lay in a hospital bed in agony with my jaw broken and NEVER considered quitting so I’m not going to think about it now
RICKY BURNS EXCLUSIVE
IT’S been a tough year for Ricky Burns but Scotland’s best fighter of his generation has always been a glass half-full kind of guy.
He admits he’s also a plate full kind of guy right now as he enjoys a rare Christmas off and a break from his ultra-strict diet and a brutal training routine in London that would have a marine running up the white flag.
Losing his WBA light welter world title to Julius Indogo and defeat in his comeback at lightweight against Anthony Crolla put a downer on 2017 after the joy of becoming Scotland’s first three-weight world champ the previous year. But despite the pain in the ring, life is good for Burns right now.
He’s home in Coatbridge with wife Amanda and son Leon, the family are watching Christmas movies and Burns admits he’s “stuffing his chops”.
At 34 and with 49 fights on the clock – many of them gruelling world title wars – he could be tempted to stick the feet up for good. As if.
Even during this down time Burns can’t keep down that burning desire that fuels him through the long, painful camps and gets him into the ring time and time again.
Burns isn’t ready to pull down the curtain. He has no intention of hanging up the gloves. He never has.
“It has never crossed my mind,” he says. There surely must have been times though, when the fight game got too much?
Perhaps four years ago, when he was in Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary after incredibly fighting for 10 rounds with a broken jaw and securing a draw with Raymundo Beltran?
Burns shakes his head and says: “Honestly, never – not even when I was in hospital with a broken jaw.
“As bad as that was back then, I still wasn’t lying thinking that was it.
“It was funny, I came back up from the theatre after surgery, I had the pain and was all wired up. It was really touch and go whether I would be able to fight again.
“I could barely speak but I wanted to know when I could be back – not if I would get back. Even then I wasn’t ready mentally to call it a day. I feel the same way now.
“My family supported me. Obviously they hear things like a broken jaw and they are worried. But I was fine.
“It was a case of, right, get it healed and get back in. I put it down to a one-off.
“It’s not like I was coming out of fights with my face all bust open, my eyes half shut and my head in a state. That’s when I’ll call it a day.” The comeback from the broken jaw is a neat insight into the Burns character.
The bone healed but it was a mental leap getting back into the ring.
He said: “It was hard going back into sparring but it was more psychological.
“I wanted to get hit – properly. That might sound daft and I knew there was a chance it would be painful if it went again.
“But I just wanted to know if the jaw was up to it again. It was a barrier but I got through it.”
That sums Burns up. He keeps coming back for more
and he’s still doing it, with Burns insisting the close defeat to Crolla last October was enough of a statement to prove the show can go on.
He said: “Everyone kept telling me I had to win or I would be finished. That was all the talk. I kept being asked about it and it was doing my head in.
“I wasn’t looking at it that way. I might have lost but I think I showed I still have something to offer.
“I’ll decide when it’s time to call it a day. I’ll know.
“If my face was a mess each day in sparring or I was getting beaten up badly in the ring then that would be me. I’ve still got my looks! My nose is a little bit bashed but it’s not too bad considering the years I’ve been in the ring.
“When I look back at my record and at the old fights it’s amazing how long I’ve been going. I turned pro at 19, took a year out at one stage and then got back.
“I started boxing at 11 and had my first fight at 12 – so I’ve been doing this for 22 years.”
The next one is a biggie for Burns. He’ll clock up a half century of pro fights and wants to do it in style.
He’s desperate for another crack at Crolla but there are plenty of big fights out there domestically or at world level that could take his fancy.
Burns will enjoy the family time but early in the new year he’ll be back down living like a monk in London, tucked away and training three times a day.
Burns said: “My next fight is my 50th – there’s no way I’m stopping now.
“I don’t know how long I can go for but I don’t see why I can’t keep going.
“I’m still holding my own with the young lads down in London. I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t.
“It’s not easy, you’re away from your family for 12 weeks at a time and it’s hard. I’m back home right now and it’s just brilliant spending time with the wee man.
“You feel like you miss out on so much but, at the same time, you are doing if for them.
“I’m looking at having an exciting 2018. I’m back at lightweight and hopefully there will be more big fights to come.
“I’ll take anything on, world titles, European titles, the British – I’ll fight anyone.”