Ricky: I’m fighting on.. I owe Glasgow send-off
Ricky Burns has set his heart on bowing out of boxing in front of a Glasgow crowd after declaring he isn’t ready to hang up his gloves.
The three-weight world champion has fought once in the last 18 months, which was a points defeat to Lee Selby in London last October.
But the 37-year-old is adamant he still has a “year or two” left in the ring.
The Coatbridge scrapper said: “I felt I had done enough to win in that fight.
“Over the last year on social media, I had lots of people ask if I was still fighting. But I’m not ready to retire yet.
“If Lee had punched the face off me I’d have said, ‘No more.’
“But I have a couple of good fights left in me so let’s see what happens. I was 36 then,
Connor Syme continues to shine on the simulator as the Scot sealed another win on the European Tour’s virtual circuit. A one-under
70 saw him share top spot with
Sergio Garcia, Cabrera Bello, Rafa Matthew Jordan and Damien
Perrier as the
Indoor Invitational
BMW Valderrama moved to yesterday. Syme, 24, also topped the leader-board at Portrush two weeks ago. 37 now, and I don’t kid myself. I know I have a year or two of my career left and I’ll decide when the time is right.
“I just don’t like it when people are forcing it on me.
“I started ticking over in the gym and had to shake off a few injuries after the Selby fight.
“But all my scans have come back clear and I’ve been back to normal doing marathon runs. The body’s all good.”
Burns’ last world title fight ended in a one-sided defeat to Julius Indongo at The Hydro in 2017, the Namibian taking his WBA super-lightweight title.
He said: “We haven’t spoken about dates or opponents yet but I’d love to finish my career in Glasgow and have one more big night up here.
“Throughout my career the fans have always turned up and shown great support, so I’d love to put on one last show for them before I call it a day.” a lot of these guys, if they’re not learning at international level, they’re established by the time they get there.
“I have been ver y impressed with Adam and likewise with replacing Hoggy. And maybe Scott Cummings becomes the new Johnny Gray.
“I think Scott has the potential to become a phenomenal international. He’s a real point of difference with the second rows over here, he’s a great athlete, so deceptively quick.
“He’s really developed an edge to his play around the physicality. He’s a very smart man, very good l ineout caller, very composed.
“So great players like the men we’ve talked about have left and you’ve got to find someone to fill the hole.
“I can’t see that changing, we can’t afford to keep someone like Hoggy and pay him the money Exeter does.
“He deserves to get paid that sort of money and the advantage you have over here is they can still play for Scotland. If you’re a Kiwi and you do that, that’s the end of your All Black career.”