Burns to jilt brother at the altar
Ricky Burns will have to leave his young brother at the altar after learning the date for his WBO world super-featherweight title challenge against Roman Martinez clashes with the family wedding.
Burns and his brother Adrian were supposed to be the best men at the wedding of their other sibling, David, on Friday, September 3.
But the 27-year-old Coatbridge boxer was aghast to learn his title challenge against the unbeaten Puerto Rican at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall was scheduled 24 hours later, leaving him to focus on the weigh-in rather than the wedding. At a press conference in Glasgow on Thursday to announce the event, Burns said: "This fight has been dragging on a bit and I had a feeling that this would happen. I had to go and tell my brother and he wasn`t too happy."
He added: "My other brother Adrian was accepted for a football scholarship in America and he can`t get away either.
"But he understands this is a title fight and television dates can`t be changed for me. I will try and get the time of the weigh-in changed so I can get to the ceremony and then I will pop in to the reception at night for an hour."
Burns, with just two losses in 30 bouts, is hoping he proves to be the best man when he takes on Martinez who won the title by beating Nicky Cook in Manchester in March, 2009.
But he admits he thought the fight might never take place.
He said: "At the start it was meant to be in Puerto Rico, then it was here and then there were a few dates that all fell through. I was originally training to fight on 17th July but obviously it was moved forward. But the date is set now and I have something to train for. It is the biggest fight of my career but I'm more than confident that I can beat him."
Burns added: "Scotland needs another world champion to get the Scottish fight fans back and I believe I am the man for the job. I'm the same as every wee boy who puts the gloves on - I dreamt of a world title. I have been given a great chance by my promoter Frank Warren and my manager Alex Morrison and it's up to me to deliver.
"The Kelvin Hall is where I had my first professional fight and now I have a chance to win the world title there. I get a good following from Coatbridge but now I have to get the whole of Scotland behind me and I think I can do it.''
Date published :
25 Jun 2010 - 12:10:52
