THERE are few sports that are quite so unforgiving as boxing, as Ricky Burns has found out.

It was not so long ago that he was being mentioned in the same breath as some of Scotland's boxing greats, men such as Ken Buchanan, Dick McTaggart and Benny Lynch, but on Saturday he will be in Texas for a fight with former WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa that he must win to salvage his career, according to former WBO super featherweight champion Alex Arthur.

"Ricky is going to America on the basis that this really is the last chance saloon," says Arthur. "Knowing where he is in his career, I believe this is it for him. Ricky has been sent to America as an opponent, not as a big superstar and if he loses, I believe that world-level boxing is finished for him."

Arthur, now 36, knows Burns as a fighter as well as anyone - he went 12 rounds with his compatriot in 2006, beating him on points to retain the British, European and Commonwealth super-featherweight titles at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh - and he believes the fight next weekend will be one of the toughest challenges of Burns' illustrious career.

"If Ricky can win on Saturday, it would be an unbelievable victory, because Figueroa is a brilliant fighter," he says of the unbeaten American. "Figueroa has been in tough fights before and he's at home so he'll have the crowd right behind him - all the advantages are with him. If the team that Ricky has around him are being truthful, they'll be trying to explain to him that he's going to need to put on the performance of his life next weekend, even better than when he won the world title."

It all began for the Coatbridge man with his first world title as a super featherweight in 2010. It was the start of a glorious few years, with Burns successfully defending his WBO crown three times before moving up to lightweight and winning the WBO title at his first attempt. Three successful defences later, Burns was hailed as one of Scotland's sporting greats.

But then his career began to falter. During his fourth world lightweight defence in September 2013, against Raymundo Beltran, Burns broke his jaw. He continued valiantly and was awarded, contentiously, a draw. It was to get worse. Burns lost his title to Terence Crawford, and this was followed by another defeat at the hands of Dejan Zlaticanin after a split decision.

Last October, in a fight that Burns' promoter Eddie Hearn had called make-or-break, the Scot arrested the decline, gaining a much-needed points victory against French journey- man Alexandre Lepelley in his first fight at light-welterweight.

They say form is temp-orary, class is permanent and if this is truly the case, Burns, 32, has the potential to regain the level of performance that brought him those world titles. However, Arthur worries that the broken jaw he suffered against Beltran has had a lasting effect and is a hurdle which must be overcome in the toughest of all sports.

"I think psychologically, he's a different fighter since he suffered that injury," Arthur says. "I've noticed a change in him in his recent fights. Before he broke his jaw, he was a really brave fighter. He would sometimes put himself in situations even if he knew he wasn't going to come out on top and that just didn't bother him. Ricky is more gun-shy now and you just can't be like that. Quite possibly, there's a shred of doubt in his mind about whether he can take another flush punch on his jaw and that's what's preventing him taking some of the chances he did before the injury."

While a loss of confidence can be crippling and a record of one victory out of his past four fights is not an encouraging statistic, Arthur says there are positives for Burns.

"It's tough when your confidence is low but whenever I came off a loss, I was always more driven. I wanted to rectify any mistakes that I'd made and I wanted to work that bit harder. If Ricky has got a similar mindset then this is a great chance for him. I think he'll be looking at this fight as a great opportunity to get himself back to world level."

While Arthur is upbeat about Burns' prospects, he remains critical of some of his decisions over his career.

"I'm not sure that moving up to light-welterweight was the best thing for him," says Arthur. "Physically, I don't think he looks the same as he did at lightweight. Ricky said it was getting harder and harder to make the weight - and I know all about that, especially as you get older - but in his last few fights, I didn't think that it looked like the weight he gained was muscle. Even though it's only four or five pounds, I think he looks more fleshy now and he looks to me like he should still be a lightweight. I don't believe he can win a world title at light-welterweight but if he can reclaim his old form at lightweight, I think he could beat one of the top British guys."

Last year, Burns split with Billy Nelson, his long-time trainer, and began working with Essex-based Tony Sims, which also concerns Arthur. "I think he should have stayed where he was up in Scotland because I don't believe Tony Sims can add any- thing to Ricky's game at this point in his career," he says. "What had begun to happen was his opponents had started to work him out rather than there being a problem with his trainer or camp. If things don't go to plan, you want to change things around you - I did it myself - but actually, you sometimes just need to look at yourself."

Burns is, most likely, nearing the end of his career but Arthur is overwhelmingly positive about the health of the sport in Scotland.