As the assembled scribblers gathered around Ricky Burns while he began to tape and bandage up those flashing fists of his in preparation for a public exhibition of sparring in the St Enoch Centre, the words, “I’m like a bear with a sore head at this stage,” had some of us gently easing backwards just in case our line of questioning led to some serious facial trauma.

“All of the stuff around the fight is just a distraction,” said Burns, who is clearly keen to get going with the batters and wallops when he squares up to Namibia’s IBF world champion Julius Indongo in their unification battle at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro on Saturday night. “I’ve done the hard part, I’ve got the weight sorted and now I just can’t wait to get in to the ring. It’s been 12 weeks of focus and at this point I just want to get in there and take care of business.”

The business Burns is looking to take care of is something of a man of mystery but 34-year-old Indongo certainly made observers sit up and take notice with his eye-brow raising first round knock-out of the Russian, Eduard Troyanovsky, in Moscow back in December. That was Indongo’s first bout outside of his native land and Burns, the three-weight world champion from Coatbridge, will certainly not be rolling out the Scottish welcome mat. The 33-year-old knows, however, that he is in for a tough test against the tall, raking south paw.

“I’m ready for a hard, 12 round fight,” he said. “It will be awkward for a few rounds. He’s a tall southpaw, with a long reach. Everyone is going on about how Indongo is a big puncher. We’ll see. They are saying that on the back of his last fight. It was one big punch but you don’t know if he caught the guy cold in the first round or whatever. He had maybe 10 knockouts in his other 21 fights but he’s never fought outside Namibia so you don’t know. We’ll find out how good he is on Saturday. I am clicking in the gym and I’ve never felt fitter. I’ve trained as hard as ever. But my sparring and preparation has all been spot on and I’m going out to put on a show.”

Burns may have a south paw on his mind but it’s been the American cult cartoon, South Park, which has been keeping him calm during the long, arduous training regime he embarked on to be ready for this tussle. “I don’t do much when I’m in camp,” said Burns, who will turn 34 tomorrow. “It’s just the gym, watch South Park and then lie in my bed. I like all the old boxsets. On fight week it’s about relaxing as much as possible. I sleep a lot outside training.”

Given all this shut eye, it’s perhaps not surprising to learn that Burns doesn’t watch much of the actual sport he is involved in. “I don’t really watch my boxing to be honest,” he added. “I know it sounds funny, but I’m not really a big boxing fan. I love fighting. I watch the big fights obviously but I’m not one for looking back at old fights and stuff.”

As far as watching Indongo’s last fight in Moscow is concerned, it’s almost a case of blink and you’ll miss it. It was all over in 40 seconds as the Namibian floored Troyanovsky with the kind of devastating clatter that could’ve knocked down the wall of the Kremlin. It’s been called a “lucky punch” but Indongo is having none of that. “It was a great punch,” he countered as he got his first taste of a Glasgow shopping mall during a promotional jaunt yesterday. "I looked at his (Troyanovsky’s) fights before and saw that I didn't have to be scared of him because he is very slow. If Burns makes the same mistake it will happen the same way, I'll be ready to do the same to him.

“Burns is more experienced in terms of world championship fights but I have my own experience. I have been preparing for him for three months.

"This is outside my country and someone else's backyard so I have to do my best and show the world and the judges I'm the best. I believe that I have a talent in me to box. I'm gifted with that and that's why I'm a champion of the world."

"After Russia, Glasgow doesn't worry me.”