Ricky Burns can book a Hall of Fame place by beating Michele Di Rocco, says Tony Sims
Wednesday 25 May 2016 17:39, UK
Trainer Tony Sims believes Ricky Burns can secure Hall of Fame status by becoming a three-weight world champion on Saturday.
The Scot (39-5-1-KO18) fights Michele Di Rocco for the vacant WBA super-lightweight crown in Glasgow - live on Sky Sports - knowing he can become just the third Briton to achieve the feat in the history of boxing.
Sims told Sky Sports: "The only two British fighters to have done it are Bob Fitzsimmons and Duke McKenzie. Ricky would be the only Scot to achieve this feat and when you think of starting out in the pro ranks, your ambition is to win a world title.
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"To win a world title, you've got to be a top, elite fighter. To think he's attempting to do it in his third different weight division is an incredible feat and I know all of Scotland is going to be behind him and hopefully all of Great Britain here.
"We're talking about Hall of Fame stuff here. When you think of it - Fitzsimmons was in the early 1900s and McKenzie was 1980s so it just shows how hard an achievement it is. He's gone from super-featherweight to super-lightweight and you're talking about huge jumps in weight.
"He was offered a final eliminator for Terry Flanagan's WBO world lightweight title at the same time he got offered this chance as well. We spoke about it that week and he's won a world lightweight title and it's more about achieving history than anything else.
"Getting in the history books is what has spurred Ricky on in this camp. He knows what he is achieving but he plays everything down. He trains diligently and is massively motivated because of what it can create. Not a lot of people can say they created history.
"If he wins this fight on Saturday then he'll go down as Scotland's greatest ever fighter."
Watch Burns v Di Rocco on Saturday from 8pm and Tony Bellew v Ilunga Makabu on Sunday from 6.30pm - both live on Sky Sports 1.
