Burnett hopeful of return
RYAN Burnett says the back injury that ended his reign as WBA bantamweight world champion is “not career-ending”.
The 26-year-old Belfast fighter left the ring at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro on a stretcher at the end of the fourth round of his WBSS quarter-final against Nonito Donaire last Saturday.
“I have torn muscle fibres in my right internal oblique,” he said in an Instagram post.
The stoppage ended Burnett’s previously undefeated professional record.
“A portion of the muscle has also detached from the bone where it inserts,” added Burnett, who has returned to Belfast for further treatment.
After the third round, Burnett could be heard telling trainer Adam Booth: “I cannot move it. I cannot throw a shot.”
He dropped to his knees in the next round after attempting to throw a punch, and pulled out of the fight at its conclusion.
The abrupt ending meant Donaire claimed a world title at 118lb for the first time in eight years, and progressed to a semi-final against
South Africa’s WBO champion Zolani
Tete.
It is unclear as to how long Burnett will be out of action for, although he added that the injury would require: “Intensive treatment and rehabilitation.”