Ricky Burns - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ricky Burns is a boxer from Coatbridge

Coatbridge

Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...

in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

who fights in the lightweight division and is currently the WBO interim

Interim

Interim is an album by British rock band The Fall, compiled from live and studio material and released in 2004. It features the first officially released versions of "Clasp Hands", "Blindness" and "What About Us?" — all of which were later included on the band's next studio album Fall Heads Roll —...

lightweight

Lightweight

Light-weight is a class of athletes in a particular sport, based on their weight.-Professional boxing:The lightweight division is over 130 pounds and up to 135 pounds weight class in the sport of boxing....

champion

Champion

A champion is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition.There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions...

of the world becoming only the 13th Scottish boxing world champion. He is also a former WBO Super-Featherweight champion, Commonwealth super featherweight champion and has previously challenged for both the British and European titles.Boxrec | Ricky Burns professional record

Career

Early career

Burns first fight as a professional was a four round victory in October 2001 over Woody Greenaway at the Kelvin Hall

Kelvin Hall

The Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland, is a mixed-use arts and sports venue that opened as an exhibition centre in 1927. It has been a music hall, indoor arena and barrage balloon factory, and is currently home to the Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena and from 1987 to 2010, Glasgow's Museum of...

in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

. On 12 December 2004, following a string of seven wins over opponents including Jeff Thomas, Ernie Smith and Daniel Thorpe he was matched against fellow unbeaten prospect Colin Bain. The fight, at the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow, resulted in a first career defeat for Bain as Burns won over the six round distance. For Burns, the win set him up for a journey south of the border to face the unbeaten British lightweight champion Graham Earl

Graham Earl

Graham Earl is a retired English lightweight boxer from Luton, England. He is a former British and Commonwealth lightweight champion.-Professional career:...

in a non-title fight. The fight with Earl took place at the Wembley Conference Center and Burns produced one of the upsets of the year when he scored a points victory to beat Earl over eight rounds.Scottish Boxing | Burns beats British Lightweight Champion at Wembley

Title fights

The win against Earl meant he would land a shot at the big time when in February 2006, he took on reigning British, Commonwealth and European champion Alex Arthur

Alex Arthur

Alex Arthur, nicknamed "Amazing" Alex Arthur, is a professional boxer from Edinburgh in Scotland.Arthur is a former British, Commonwealth, European Boxing Union and WBO super featherweight champion...

. The fight took place in Edinburgh and ended in defeat for Burns, as Arthur retained on points. Burns who was still only a 12-fight novice at this stage took the fight to Arthur prompting the champion to heap praise on him; "Ricky Burns was in superb shape and he was up for the fight" said Arthur, "He's a brilliant boxer with a great future and he could be a world champion one day." Burns himself refused to be disappointed with the loss saying; "I don't count that as a loss. I'm just 22 and it was great experience for me".BBC Sport | Arthur beats Burns in bruising title defence Burns next had a crack at the British title almost exactly a year later when in February 2007, he met reigning champion Carl Johanneson

Carl Johanneson

Carl Johanneson is super featherweight boxer. His nickname, "Ingemar" is a nod to the famous Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson and is the nephew of former Leeds United player Albert Johanneson...

at the Town Hall in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

. The fight ended once again in defeat with Burns losing a 12 round decision to the experienced champion. Johanneson intent on winning well before his home crowd hounded Burns throughout the fight and managed to knock Burns down three times.Scottish Boxing | Brave Burns loses on points to Johanneson

New challenges

After the defeat to Johanneson, Burns took the decision to leave his old boxing club in a bid to seek a new challenge. Burns had worked with Rab Bannan at the Barn Boxing Club for over 14 years, but the Johanneson defeat prompted a need for a change of direction. On telling his former mentor the news Burns said; "It was a nightmare having to tell him. It was really sad because I’ve been with him for 14 years. All my boxing life really. It was really hard but we left on good terms and we shook hands and I’m sure our paths will cross again." Burns moved to the Dalmarnock gym in Glasgow, where he could train alongside the likes of Willie Limond

Willie Limond

Willie Limond is a Glasgow-born professional boxer. He is the current WBU lightweight champion, former IBO Inter-Continental champion, and the former Commonwealth lightweight Champion.-Early career:...

and Kenny Anderson.Airdrie & Coatbridge Observer | Burns leaves Barn club Since the fight with Johanneson, Burns won eight fights in a row. A ten round win over Romanian Gheorghe Ghiompirica at the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow gave him the lightly regarded British International Masters belt.Airdrie & Coatbridge Observer | Burns too hot for Romanian Burns also spent time sparring former opponent Alex Arthur in preparation for Arthur's WBO Super-Featherweight title defence against Nicky Cook

Nicky Cook

Nicky Cook is an English professional boxer who fights at featherweight he is the former British, Commonwealth, European featherweight and WBO super featherweight champion.-Early professional career:...

.Arthur ready to cook up a storm with sparring partner Burns

Commonwealth champion

In September 2008, Burns was in line for a crack at the vacant Commonwealth title, a belt which had been given up by Londoner Kevin Mitchell. The challenge took place at the York Hall

York Hall

The York Hall is a health and leisure centre and one of Britain's best known boxing venues.The venue is situated on Old Ford Road in Bethnal Green, London, England. The hall, opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200, stages boxing as well as providing a gymnasium and swimming pool.The hall is owned...

in Bethnal Green

Bethnal Green

Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...

and saw Burns outpoint the Ghanaian Osumana Akaba

Osumana Akaba

Osumana Akaba is a Ghanaian professional boxer who has challenged for the Commonwealth title at two different weights.-Early professional career:...

over 12 rounds.Burns claims Commonwealth Crown The fight which was taken with only weeks notice after the original main event on the card was cancelled propelled Burns into the championship frame. Speaking of his future ambitions Burns said; "There is only one fight I want at the moment. That fight would be the current British champion Kevin Mitchell. He recently has been injured, and won't be back until December so we'll have to see what happens".Eastside boxing | Burns : there is only one fight I want at the moment Burns defended his crown at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall soon afterwards in November 2008, against another Ghanaian, Yakubu Amidu. The African fighter had a record of 16-1-1, with all his victories coming by way of stoppage. Burns however was too much and his superior fitness levels showed as the referee stopped the contest in the seventh round handing victory to the Scotsman.Britishboxing.net | Burns hunts down the Yak Burns second defence took place in March 2009, and saw Burns halt former British champion Michael Gomez

Michael Gomez

Michael Gomez , also known as "The Irish Mexican" or "The Predator", is a former professional boxer...

in the seventh round.BBC Sport | Burns retains title against Gomez On 20 June 2009, Burns made perhaps the toughest defence of his title yet with a hard fought 12 round win over Northern Ireland's Kevin O'Hara.BBC Sport | Burns overcomes O'Hara in Glasgowwith the assistance of the highly experienced trainer Billy Nelson and his Fighting Scots Gym in Stepps. Ricky became Billy's first world champion.

Super featherweight World champion

Burns success in the ring had elevated him to the number one ranking with the World Boxing Organization

World Boxing Organization

The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...

's rankings. Burns' promoter Frank Warren

Frank Warren (promoter)

Frank Darren Warren is an English boxing manager and promoter.-Early life and early career:The son of a bookmaker, Warren trained as a solicitor's clerk with J Tickle & Co on Southampton Row in London....

tried to negotiate a match with the reigning champion Roman Martinez

Román Martínez (boxer)

Román Martínez is a Puerto Rican professional boxer.-Career:On December 22, 2001, Martinez began his professional career, beating fellow Puerto Rican Wilfredo Ramos with a fourth round knockout on the undercard of a bill headed by Irving Garcia in Manatí, Puerto Rico...

. The bout with the Puerto Rican champion had been subject to numerous delays with the fight scheduled for both Scotland

Scotland

and Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

at various intervals only for the fight never to materialise and for Martinez to make a voluntary defence of his title instead. The uncertainty for Burns meant that a proposed British title contest against Gary Sykes

Gary Sykes

Gary Sykes is a British super featherweight boxer. Educated at Birkdale High School he is based in Dewsbury, Yorkshire and is a former British super featherweight champion.-Amateur career:...

never happened with Sykes winning the title against Burns replacement Andy Morris

Andy Morris (boxer)

Andy Morris is an English boxer who currently fights in the Featherweight division. He is a former holder of the English and British featherweight titles and has fought for the British super featherweight title...

and defending against the man Burns had defeated in his last Commonwealth title defence Kevin O'Hara.BBC Sport | Ricky Burns awaits title destiny Finally after almost a year of frustration Burns re-entered the ring on 15 May 2010, on the undercard of Kevin Mitchell's world title shot against Michael Katsidis

Michael Katsidis

Michael Alan Katsidis is an Australian professional boxer of Greek descent. He is a former two-time WBO interim lightweight titleholder whose crowd-pleasing, all-action fighting style has often drawn comparisons with the late Arturo Gatti.-Amateur career:In an amateur career which began at the...

at the Boleyn Ground

Boleyn Ground

The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...

. Burns continued his winning streak and kept ticking over with an eight round win over journeyman and former foe Youssef Al Hamidi

Youssef Al Hamidi

Youssef Al Hamidi is a Syrian boxer who was a decorated amateur in the Syrian army and is now a professional boxer in the UK-Amateur career:...

. Burns claimed after the fight that he hoped the fight with Román Martinez would materialise around July and that it would be in Glasgow.Airdie and Coatbridge Advertiser | Burns clinches Upton Park win The WBO super-featherweight title showdown between Burns and Roman Martinez

Román Martínez (boxer)

was eventually confirmed on 24 June 2010 and scheduled to take place at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow on 4 September. Speaking at the announcement of the fight Burns said; "this has been dragging on a bit..it is the biggest fight of my career but I'm more than confident that I can beat him".BBC Sport | Ricky Burns secures title bout with Roman Martinez Finally on 4 September, Burns entered the ring at Kelvin Hall to face the WBO's unbeaten reigning world champion Roman Martinez. Martinez had held the title for over a year winning it from Englishman Nicky Cook

Nicky Cook

and defending twice against Colombian Feider Viloria and Argentinian Gonzalo Munguia.Boxrec | Roman Martinez professional record Despite suffering a knockdown in the first round, Burns took the fight to the champion winning on all three judges scorecards 115-112, 115-112 and 115-113 to inflict a career first defeat on Martinez and finally winning the world title.BBC sport | Ricky Burns beats Martinez in Glasgow Speaking of the fight, Burns promoter Frank Warren said; "this was the best night I've ever had in Scotland and I've had some great shows with Scott Harrison and Alex Arthur as well as bringing Nigel Benn

Nigel Benn

Nigel Benn , known as "The Dark Destroyer", is a British former boxer who held world titles in the middleweight and super middleweight divisions....

and Frank Bruno

Frank Bruno

Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...

up here." Describing the atmosphere at the Kelvin Hall as "electric" he went on to praise Burns, who in winning the title had become Scotland's 12th world champion, saying Scotland had a new "sporting hero" and that the win would lead to a renaissance in Scottish boxing. It also transpired that before the fight the manager of Celtic

Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...

, Neil Lennon

Neil Lennon

Neil Francis Lennon is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the current manager and former captain of Celtic....

had called to wish Burns the best and sent him a Celtic strip signed by the whole of the first team as a good luck present.The Telegraph | Ricky Burns shows true courage to become Scotlands 12th world champion

Title defences

On 4 December 2010, Burns defended his title for the first time against Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

boxer Andreas Evensen

Andreas Evensen

Andreas Volden Evensen is a Norwegian professional boxer.In December 2010 in a title fight against Ricky Burns , he lost by points.His trainer is Helge Wærøy.-References:...

who held the WBO inter-continental belt at featherweight. The fight, at the Braehead Arena

Braehead Arena

The Braehead Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in the western part of the Glasgow conurbation. The arena was built in 1999, and is located within the Braehead Complex....

in Glasgow, resulted in another unanimous points win for Burns with the Scotsman also scoring a knockdown in the first round.BBC Sport | Ricky Burns defeats Andreas Evensen to retain WBO crown On 12 March 2011, Burns made his second defence again at the Braehead Arena. His opponent the Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

ian boxer Joseph Laryea had won the WBO Inter-Continental title win a victory over Scotsman Paul Appleby on the same night that Burns beat Evenson. The fight was stopped in the 7th round after Laryea withdrew citing a broken knuckle with Burns ahead in the fight.BBC Sport | Super featherweight Ricky Burns retains WBO title Burns next defence was scheduled for 16 July 2011 and against former WBO Champion Nicky Cook

Nicky Cook

, in Liverpool's Echo Arena.BBC Sport | Ricky Burns set to defend WBO title against Cook The fight resulted in a 93 second stoppage for Burns as Cook's corner threw in the towel following an injury to his back. After only six seconds a punch from Burns resulted in Cook receiving a count and complaining of back trouble. Cook was sent to the canvas twice more before his corner retired the boxer handing a third straight defence of the title to Burns who said that he would like to fight the South African boxer Mzonke Fana

Mzonke Fana

Mzonke Fana is a professional boxer in the junior lightweight division. Known as "The Rose of Khayelitsha", he was a virtual unknown in the boxing world until he challenged and defeated Malcolm Klassen for the IBF World Junior lightweight title in 2007...

next.BBC Sport | Ricky Burns stops Nicky Cook in first round the retain WBO title Burns was next scheduled to meet mandatory challenger, and Boxrec #1 rated Super featherweight

Super Featherweight

Super featherweight is a weight division in professional boxing. The maximum weight for this division is 130 pounds or 59 kilograms....

, Adrien Broner

Adrien Broner

Adrien Broner is an American Junior Lightweight boxer, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Adrien has been featured in the top ten of the Ring Magazine rankings for the Junior Lightweight division.-Professional career:2008...

, but announced on 22 September 2011 that he would be relinquishing his WBO Super featherweight title and moving up to compete at lightweight. Burns said that the move up a weight division would ease the pressure of having to control his weight saying "the last couple of fights it was getting harder and harder for me to do it."Adrien Broner commented on the situation, saying, "You vacated the title talking about you couldn't make weight no more. But you just fought four times and defended this title," Broner further said, "But everyone knows boxing is a game where you can duck fighters... and I guess he felt like running away was best for his career."Boxingscene | Adrien Broner Blasts Ricky Burns

Move to Lightweight

In his first fight at the weight it was announced that Burns would fight Australian Michael Katsidis

Michael Katsidis

in London for the WBO interim lightweight title. Speaking of the fight Burns said that it would definitely be the toughest of his career saying "I don't think they could have got me a harder fight if they tried, he's been in with the best of the weight, he's proved himself, obviously he's one of the best in the division and it's a great chance to get out there and show what I can do." On the 5th November 2011, Burns took on Katsidis for the WBO interim lightweight championship and despite being the slight underdog went on to win the fight by unanimous decision.BBC Sport | Burns ready for toughest fight with Katsidis After the fight Burns claimed to have "proved a lot of people wrong" as some people "thought Michael would walk all over me". Speaking of the fight he added "Michael didn't give me a minute, he kept coming forward but I'd prepared for that. I'm doing my job and that's the way I always look at it."BBC Sport | Ricky Burns beats Michael Katsidis to win Lightweight title

Professional boxing record

Australia Michael Katsidis

Michael Katsidis

| |12 (12) | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |32-2 |align=left|

England Nicky Cook

Nicky Cook

| |1 (12) | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |31-2 |align=left|

Norway Andreas Evensen

Andreas Evensen

Andreas Volden Evensen is a Norwegian professional boxer.In December 2010 in a title fight against Ricky Burns , he lost by points.His trainer is Helge Wærøy.-References:...

| |12 | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |29-2 |align=left|

Puerto Rico Roman Martinez

Román Martínez (boxer)

| |12 | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |28-2 |align=left|

Republic of Ireland Michael Gomez

Michael Gomez

Michael Gomez , also known as "The Irish Mexican" or "The Predator", is a former professional boxer...

| |7 (12) | |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |Win |25-2 |align=left|

References

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/168223-broner-apparently-becomes-mandatory-challenger-for-wbo-title http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=71275&cat=boxer |- Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Scottish boxers Category:Super-featherweight boxers Category:People from Coatbridge Category:World Boxing Organization Champions fr:Ricky Burns pl:Ricky Burns

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.