Interview: Boxer Ricky Burns

HIS life was changed forever three months ago but Ricky Burns is determined he never will. Since a remarkable night at the Kelvin Hall, when he became only the 12th Scot to win a recognised world boxing title, he has been feted to a degree which might make anyone's head swell just a little.

Whether taking a bow in front of the Tartan Army at Hampden or leading the Princes Street parade during the Papal visit, Burns has had to come to terms quickly with the attention he receives as a result of his journey from the margins of Scottish sport to becoming one of the highest ranked boxers on the planet.

So it is reassuring, although not at all surprising, to discover that the 27-year-old from Coatbridge remains as grounded and disarmingly self-effacing as he has been since he started his professional career nine years ago.

"When people go on about me being a world champion, I actually get embarrassed," said Burns as he welcomed The Scotsman into his gym this week ahead of the first defence of his World Boxing Organisation super-featherweight title against Andreas Evensen at the Braehead Arena next Saturday night.

"I'll never let myself get too big for my boots or let being a world champion change me as a person. More people recognise me and want to talk to me since I won the title and I'm always happy to spend time with them.

"But anyone who knows me knows I'm just a quiet guy. People make such a fuss, but I just get embarrassed by it. Being in the public eye isn't for me. After fights, I just like to get back to my normal life.

"It's not so bad when you have a few weeks off after a fight. I'm pleased to attend events and accept the invitations during that period. But as this fight got closer, it seemed to be getting a bit out of hand. It was starting to interfere with training a bit. I was even asked to switch the Christmas lights on in Coatbridge this week but had to say no.

"So I've spoken to my manager Alex Morrison and trainer Billy Nelson about it and there is going to be a change in what happens after this fight and my next one. For the six weeks before the fight, I want to concentrate totally on training and preparation.

"Listen, if I go out and lose the title, no-one's going to want to talk to me or invite me anywhere."

Boxing is notorious for the temptations and fatal distractions to which a steady procession of its leading practitioners have fallen prey down the years.

The sorry tales which have unfolded in the lives of so many of Scotland's previous world champions, most recently in the case of the incarcerated former WBO featherweight king Scott Harrison, are testimony to the dangers which lie in wait. Yet it is easy to believe that Burns, whose idea of a wild night out involves sleeping under the stars rather than hitting the town, will avoid the pitfalls.

"I don't think about what has happened to other world champions at all," he says. "Outside of boxing, I just keep myself to myself. I can count on one hand the amount of nights out I've had this year."After I won the title, everyone asked me if I went out celebrating and partying. But me and around eight of my pals just jumped in the motor and went camping for the weekend. I would rather do that than go to nightclubs. I just try and stay away from trouble. I enjoy family parties and things like that, but going out to pubs and clubs every weekend is just not for me.

"When I'm training, I go into hibernation. I lock myself away. I maybe speak to my pals on the phone, but sometimes I don't see them for weeks. The group of guys I hang about with are great. They are the same lads I've been pals with since primary school, there are no hangers-on or anything like that."

Burns' stunning performance on 4 September, rising from a first-round knockdown to overwhelm the previously unbeaten Roman Martinez in what has been widely acclaimed as one of the finest contests ever seen in a British ring, was the fulfillment of a dream he had nourished ever since falling in love with boxing at the age of 12.

"Rab Bannan, my old trainer, opened up a gym about 100 yards from my house in Coatbridge," he recalls. "My brothers went down one day and came back talking about it. The next day, me and a bunch of my pals went down to check it out. Ever since then, I've known boxing was what I wanted to do.

"I'm a qualified mechanic, but even when I was doing my apprenticeship, I knew it was boxing I wanted to do full-time. Rab often had to chase me up the road because I always wanted to be in the gym."

It remains the environment in which Burns is at his most content. Now at the Fighting Scots Gym in Stepps, where his trainer Nelson is based, he works with the same ferocious discipline and commitment which saw him through a slow-burning start to his career and which helped him recover from losses to Alex Arthur and Carl Johanneson, setbacks which led many to question whether he could ever reach the top.

"I knew there were not many people who really believed I could beat Martinez and become a world champion," Burns says, without even a hint of resentment towards the doubters.

"But I always knew that when I was up against it, when I was in against a higher standard of opponent, that's when I would perform best. I still feel that way and I do believe there is more to come from me as a boxer.

"My attitude to boxing hasn't changed.I'm treating this fight against Evensen the same as any other. Billy says he sees more confidence in my work when I'm sparring now, but I don't feel any different inside.

"I just look at boxing as my job. Although there was a bit of messing about before I got my shot at Martinez, that happens all the time in boxing. You can't let it get to you. Now I've got the world title and it's about holding on to it. I want to keep the big fights in Scotland for a while.

"People spoke about there being a lot of pressure on me when I fought Martinez, in terms of what it meant to Scotland and Scottish boxing, but I never thought of it that way. You put enough pressure on yourself as a boxer without letting anyone else's expectations affect you. The only thing that makes me nervous is the thought of getting beat but that's a good thing."

Burns will start as a hot favourite next weekend against Evensen, the little known 24-year-old challenger from Norway who has lost just one of his 14 fights.

"I've not even watched him on DVD yet," revealed Burns. "But Billy has the game plan worked out. I think he's a come forward brawler. As long as I stick to my boxing, there's no way he is taking that belt off me."

While holding onto that WBO strap is his priority, Burns has also allowed himself to cast a glance into what may lie ahead in 2011 as he sets his sights on winning the belt which his celluloid idol Sylvester Stallone wore.

A devotee of the Rocky films, which he watches in the build-up to every one of his fights, Burns is thrilled by the recognition his defeat of Martinez earned him from the self-styled ''Bible of Boxing'', Ring Magazine.

"If there was ever a belt I want, it's the Ring Magazine one," he smiles. "It's the one Rocky had. I notice I'm rated No 2 in the world by Ring Magazine now, and there's been some chat on the boxing websites about a fight between me and Mzonke Fana, the South African who they rank No 1.

"I'll sit down with Alex Morrison and my promoter Frank Warren and see if that could happen. It's the fight I'd really like. It would be really hard, but one I would be 100 per cent confident of winning."

Burns' other ambition is one which finds less favour with the team around him. For there is no talk of hanging up his gloves once he has secured his legacy inside the ring or his financial security outside it. If Burns has one addiction, it is to boxing itself.

"I always tell Billy I want to have 100 fights in my career," he said ahead of his 32nd bout next week. "He says there is no chance of that happening and I know people will urge me to retire long before that stage. But I can honestly see me fighting on until I reach 100 fights.As long as I'm not getting hurt and I'm fit enough to wear those gloves, I will carry on fighting."

A move up in weight, which may prove tempting if more lucrative contests emerge in the lightweight division, may be one route by which Burns extends his career as long as possible.

"At the moment, I'm happy to stay at super-feather," he adds. "I've got the WBO title now, so I'm in a strong position. I also still make the weight comfortably. I usually don't go any more than a stone over the 9st 4lb limit, even when I'm out of training. Obviously, if I was offered a big fight at lightweight somewhere down the line, I'd have to consider it. I'll leave that to my management team and I'm sure they will get me the right fights at the right times."

While there is very little about Burns that is ostentatious, he has treated himself to a new pair of shorts which he says will catch the eye at Braehead next week. He is also mulling over his choice of music for his ring entrance.

"It will probably be something cheesy again," he smiles. He went for Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer on the night he became world champion, prompting his management team to buy him tickets for the American mainstream rockers' Murrayfield gig next summer.

It's a rare night out Burns is looking forward to, when he will be just another face in the crowd. Like it or not, though, he is going to have to get used to being the centre of attention.

Ring Magazine's Top 10 super-featherweights

1 - Mzonke Fana (South Africa) IBF champion

2 - Ricky Burns (Scotland) WBO champion

3 - Roman Martinez (Puerto Rico)

4 - Takashi Uchiyama (Japan) WBA champion

5 - Juan Carlos Salgado (Mexico)

6 - Jorge Solis (Mexico)

7 - Jorge Linares (Venezuela)

8 - Vitali Tajbert (Germany)

9 - Argenis Mendez (Dominican Rep)

10 - Cassius Baloyi (South Africa)