Ricky Burns is confident he can upset the odds and get the better of big-hitting Australian Michael Katsidis next month.
Scotsman much happier after making the move up to lightweight
Ricky Burns acknowledges that he is facing the biggest challenge of his career as he steps up a weight to fight Michael Katsidis - but he is confident he can pull off an upset.
The Scotsman won the WBO super-featherweight title against huge favourite and previously unbeaten Roman Martinez last year, rallying from a first-round knockdown to triumph on points at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.
Burns successfully defended that belt three times before deciding to relinquish it and move up to lightweight.
He could not have asked for a much tougher start to life at 135lbs than facing another former world champion in Katsidis. The Australian has a record of 23 knockouts in 32 fights, including stopping Kevin Mitchell.
Burns, however, is confident he can upset the odds in his bid to claim the interim WBO title at Wembley Arena next month.
"I'd say this is a bigger fight and a harder fight than the Roman Martinez fight," the 28-year-old said.
"Katsidis is one of the greats in boxing just now. You name it, he has been there and done it.
"He has been in with the best in the division and he has only ever lost to the top fighters at lightweight.
"He's been over to the UK before and beat Graham Earl and more recently Kevin Mitchell so I know this is going to be a hard, hard fight.
"But the way things have been going in the gym, as long as I take what we have been doing here into the fight and stay focused, I can do well.
"I think the first half of the fight is going to the toughest, trying to keep him away, because he is a good pressure fighter. But I do see me pulling this one off."
Written off
Katsidis saw off Earl, who has also been beaten by Burns, after five rounds and stopped Mitchell in the third at Upton Park last year.
However the 31-year-old Queenslander has lost two of his last three bouts, a points loss to Robert Guerrero coming off the back of a ninth-round stoppage defeat at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez.
"People are writing me off already," the Coatbridge fighter added. "When you go in these chat sites or boxing forums, people are saying I don't have a chance, that he is going to walk all over me.
"That's what everyone was saying about Roman Martinez as well. So come November 5, I'm going to prove a lot of people wrong again."
Burns is relieved to have made the step up in weight, meaning he is now able to put more into his training at Billy Nelson's Fighting Scots gym in Glasgow.
"I'm just so much happier now in boxing," he admitted. "I can concentrate more on the boxing side of it and the training side of it rather than worrying about what I'm eating, how much I've got to come off.
"My diet has stayed the same, I'm just able to eat maybe double what I would usually be eating.
"Being able to eat that bit more, being able to put that extra wee bit more into training, I think is going to make a big difference come fight night."
