Burns in the best shape of his life, says trainer
Tony Sims believes Scot is ready to make history and change his life for ever with victory over Namibian, hears Stewart Fisher
IT is simply not in Ricky Burns’ DNA to engage in the kind of hyperbole and trash talking which has been such a feature of boxing over the last few months. The closest the Scot has come to stoking the flames ahead of Saturday’s encounter with Namibia’s Julius Indongo was launching his new clothing line at House of Fraser and taking live requests from fans on Twitter as he ponders his preferred choice of ring-walk music. But thankfully nothing artificial is required when it comes to setting the scene for a fight which Burns is well aware could change his life for ever. According to his Essex-based trainer Tony Sims, it is no accident that the fighter, who will turn 34 on Thursday, is in the best shape of his life. That must be because Saturday’s bout is the biggest of his life. Not only would victory against the unknown Indongo, who shocked the world when he claimed the IBF (and the less vaunted) IBO world titles with a 40-second knockout of Eduard Troyanovsky at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow in December, make Burns – already Scotland’s first threeweight world champion – the first Scottish unified champion since Ken Buchanan briefly held the WBA and WBC lightweight titles in 1971. It would surely also finally open the door to a money-spinning re-match with the formidable Terence Crawford, who holds the other two belts in the division. Burns could name his price if he is prepared to travel to the US to contest with Crawford the right to call himself the undisputed champion of the light welterweight class. “It is absolutely unbelievable what has happened to Ricky,” said Sims, who with his brother Peter is frequently to be found in Anthony Joshua’s corner. “When he came down here two years ago he was written off as a has-been, all washed up, but to think he could end up not only as Scotland’s first three-weight world champion but a unified world champion as well. There are some massive things on the line for Ricky in this fight and he has known that all along. “I keep saying to him that this is the biggest fight of his life. Not only is he fighting to unify two of the titles, but if you can do that you become a massive name and there is a massive showdown waiting with Terence Crawford. You are talking about big, big money for the first time in his life. “Ricky always works hard but he is definitely in the best shape he has been in. We had a longer camp, we started in the first week of January and he has had no injuries. The sparring has gone smoothly and he is raring to go. He knows this is the biggest fight of his entire life, his whole future depends on it. He will be ready, that is for sure. He will wear his heart on his sleeve and try to unify these titles.”
Indongo arrives in Glasgow with a 21-0 record, identical statistics to those of Burns’ last victim, the game Belarusian Kiryl Relikh. Having only fought outwith Namibia once, which lasted only 40 seconds, sourcing usable footage of the fighter has been a problem. Like Relikh, the question once again will be whether he can cope with a wily opponent in the bear pit of a near capacity Hydro on fight night, although at 34 Indongo is in fact the older man and he certainly seemed to handle the Moscow atmosphere well enough.
“He is another unknown quantity,” said Sims. “He had a quick finish in Russia against the IBF champion but no-one really knows too much else about him. He has had all these fights in Africa and we are finding bits and pieces of footage of him on YouTube but it is quite hard to find out what he is all about. Obviously he has boxed in Russia in front of a Russian crowd but when he walks out into the SSE Hydro it will be bonkers.
“Indongo will be thinking exactly the same thing, imagining the massive money he could earn in his next fight if he can unify the titles, so I am sure he will come well prepared. I just don’t know if he is good enough and experienced enough to come and beat Ricky Burns in Glasgow.”
While the first red letter day of Charlie Flynn’s pro career, a Celtic title shot against Ryan Collins from Irvine, will also get a decent show on the undercard it is Burns who is the star turn, even if he studiously keeps a low profile which is unusual in boxing these days.
“Ricky is just what Ricky is,” says Sims. “He is a gentleman and that is how he likes to portray himself. He has never trash talked anyone, I have never heard him put anyone down, even his opponents. But however a fighter wants to express himself is fine with me as long as he comes into the gym and does what I say. That is all I care about.”