Ricky Burns braced for opportunity of a lifetime against Roman Martinez

ALMOST eight years ago, Ricky Burns stepped into the ring at an almost empty Braehead Arena. On the same canvas less than an hour before, Scott Harrison had produced a stunning performance to dethrone Julio Pablo Chacon as the WBO featherweight champion.

As the celebrations in the Harrison dressing room began in earnest and a jubilant crowd dispersed into the night, the then 19-year-old Burns marked the fifth fight of his fledgling professional career with an impressive but largely unnoticed second round stoppage of Neil Murray.

Tonight at the Kelvin Hall, as Scotland stages its first world title fight since Harrison's final ring appearance five years ago before his life hit the skids outside the boxing arena, all eyes will be firmly fixed on Burns as he bids to add his name to the pantheon of his country's world boxing champions.

Now 27, the unassuming Coatbridge man has, as those within boxing are fond of saying, paid his dues. The journey from Harrison undercards has taken him through brave but unsuccessful British and European title challenges before he claimed the Commonwealth super-featherweight belt two years ago.

Three successful defences of that title earned him number one challenger status with the WBO and tonight's potentially life-changing showdown with that organisation's formidable world champion Roman Martinez. It is the headline contest of the opening show of a new big time boxing season on Sky Sports which sees the sport return to a Saturday night prime time slot.

For Burns, the rewards for victory will be considerable, both in a monetary sense and in terms of raising his hitherto understated profile among the wider sporting public. "I remember that night when Scott won his title," said Burns. "I didn't even get to see him win it because I was back in the dressing room getting ready for my fight. When I went into the ring, there was almost no-one left in the place.

"That's the downside of boxing when you start out and it can be hard to motivate yourself sometimes when no-one is watching. But ever since I first pulled on a pair of gloves, I've always believed I could fight for a world title one day. There has been a lot of hard work and patience involved but I've now been given a great opportunity to make my dream come true."

There has been a remarkable serenity about Burns in the build-up to this defining moment of his career, and he maintained it at yesterday's weigh-in.Martinez, who has failed to upset the Scot with his dismissive predictions of a knockout victory inside six rounds, tried to provoke a reaction in an even more charmless manner after both men had scaled inside the 9st 4lbs limit at Glasgow's Marriott Hotel.

As champion and challenger went head to head for photographers, Martinez glared at Burns and made a throat-slitting gesture with his right hand. Unperturbed, Burns simply laughed before offering his hand to the Puerto Rican who, a little bemused, shook it and backed off. Burns will have to retain that kind of grace under pressure inside the ring.

Martinez, a 1-3 favourite with the bookmakers, is unbeaten in his 25 professional contests, with 15 of his victories coming inside the distance. A ferocious body puncher, the 27-year-old champion possesses a left hook which, as fight promoter Frank Warren observed, will "poleaxe" anyone it connects cleanly with.

Defending his title on foreign land is unlikely to faze Martinez, however raucous the atmosphere is at Scottish boxing's spiritual home tonight. To win the WBO belt, Martinez travelled to Manchester in March last year and brutally stopped Nicky Cook, conqueror of Alex Arthur six months earlier, in four rounds.

Despite the eventual outcome of that contest, however, it also provided encouragement for the Burns camp. In the opening rounds, Cook was able to clearly outbox Martinez and almost floored him in the second session. Burns is confident he has both the skills and resilience to better Martinez over 12 rounds.

"I've prepared for this fight for the last ten weeks and I just can't wait for the first bell now," said Burns.

"I've felt relaxed about it all the way, but I know there will be a few seconds when the nerves kick in on Saturday night. When they clear the ring of everyone after the announcements and it's just me, him and the referee in there, it will sink in what it's all about. But, as soon as that bell goes, people can expect fireworks."

As Burns bids to become only Scotland's 12th world boxing champion, Martinez is one of no fewer than 51 produced by Puerto Rico, the Caribbean archipelago with a population of less than four million where the sport is almost a religion.

Burns needs to produce a display far in excess of anything he has previously produced to win the belt.

l There were ugly scenes at yesterday's weigh-in for tonight's Kelvin Hall world title show when Alex Arthur and his opponent Peter McDonagh almost came to blows. Edinburgh's former WBO super-featherweight champion Arthur had to be pulled away from McDonagh after the Bermondsey-based boxer lunged towards him with his head. There was then an angry verbal exchange between the pair who meet over eight rounds on the undercard.