DESIRE STILL BURNS FOR RYAN AS RECOVERY PICKS UP PACE

RYAN BURNETT remains “100 per cent” confident he will become world champion again.

Burnett, 26, lost his WBA bantamweight title after a freak back injury during his World Boxing Super Series quarter-final against Nonito Donaire last November.

It was a haunting night that North Belfast man Burnett admits he is still coming to terms with. But after unifying the division in the past, he has set his sights on a return to the big time.

“We don’t know how long the recovery process will take, so I don’t have any dates in my head,” he said. “I have started training again, some bag work and running. Just to get my fitness back up again. I am not sparring or anything like that. I feel good and I can’t wait for what the future holds.”

The 26-year-old ended up ripping the internal oblique muscle off his hip bone, raising initial concerns over his very future in the sport.

“It was agony. I didn’t have any surgery. Doctors told me it would take the same recovery time if I let it heal naturally, so I decided to do that. So I will continue my recovery and take things gradually.

Then I’ll return to the ring to win that world title.”