Critics spurred me on - Burns
Ricky Burns reaped the rewards for retaining belief in himself while others doubted as he shocked the previously unbeaten Roman Martinez to become Scotland's latest world champion boxer.
The 9-2 odds against Burns inflicting Martinez's only defeat in 26 professional fights looked accurate when the Puerto Rican floored him with a straight right hand in the opening round of their WBO super-featherweight contest in Glasgow but Burns quickly got himself back in the contest despite taking more powerful blows over the next two rounds.
Martinez had won 15 fights inside the distance, including his four-round destruction of Nicky Cook to take the title in Manchester, but Burns beat him at his own hard-hitting game as both boxers traded powerful blows in a thrilling contest in an electric Kelvin Hall.
The Coatbridge boxer's vocal fans really started to believe their man was on course for a famous upset when he rocked Martinez with two brilliant right hooks in the fifth round.
And the 27-year-old retained the upper hand for the majority of the remainder of the contest with Martinez's desperate attempts to land a knockout blow in the 12th turned on their head when Burns caught him with another thunderous right hand.
Both fighters knew there was a new champion as soon as the final bell sounded and the Scotsman was soon celebrating a unanimous points verdict that few outside his own inner circle had believed possible, especially after the first round.
Burns, who had suffered two title defeats earlier in his career, said: "I made the mistake of going square on and it was a peach of a right hand. As soon as he caught me I thought 'what's going on here?'
"But I showed the heart of a champion to get back up and go on and win the fight. I'm always confident in my own ability. The better the opponent in front of me, the better I am going to be.
"At times in the build-up to this fight it felt like just me and my camp thought I would win. But the boxing critics who said that I would lose just spurred me on.
"I've wanted to a win world title since I was a wee boy, and it is just an amazing feeling."
Date published :
05 Sep 2010 - 16:00:53
