EDDIE HEARN has today handed Ricky Burns a massive boost by revealing that his dream of fighting in Las Vegas is far from dead.
The former two-weight world champion, as exclusively revealed in last week's Herald Sport, had been expected to be named on the undercard of the projected Carl Froch v Julio Cesar Chavez super-fight, previously scheduled for Vegas, on March 28, only for a training injury sustained by IBF and WBA super-middleweight champion Froch to force the fight to be cancelled.
But now the Matchroom promotion supremo has confirmed that Burns is, indeed, still Vegas bound, with a likely fall-back date of April 18 set to help realise the 31 year-old's long-held ambition of seeing his name in lights in the boxing capital of the world.
Hearn said: "Originally, we planned for Ricky Burns to fight on the Carl Froch v Julio Cesar Chavez Jr bill in Las Vegas on March 28, but with Froch's elbow injury that plan was not possible.
"So it looks likely now that Ricky will fight in April, most likely April 18, and as soon as we get confirmation we will let the fans know about this great fight."
However, there is no confirmation of an opponent yet for the Scot.
Burns' hopes of fighting IBF super-featherweight champion Rances Barthelemy, also exclusively revealed in last week's Herald Sport, are over, with the American-based Cuban having been ordered to expedite negotiations over a mandatory defence against the number one challenger, Jose Pedraza, or face being stripped of his title.
Intriguingly, Burns' name had been linked with a fight against another Miami based Cuban, Yuriorkis Gamboa, who was beaten in nine rounds by the man that took the Scot's treasured WBO lightweight title, Terence Crawford, last June.
However, after starting negotiations with mandatory challenger Jose Pedraza, it looks like Gamboa's bid to win a third world title at a third weight has taken precedence and he is almost certain to sign to fight WBC lightweight champion, Jorge Linares.
Yet while the identity of Burns' opponent remains in the shade, the certainty is that he will have to be someone who carries a significant ranking.
The former WBO lightweight and super-featherweight champion will return to the ring at 135lbs despite his experimental step up to light-welterweight in October against Frenchman Alexandre Lepelley.
But in the New Year rankings of all four main sanctioning organisations, Burns is not ranked inside the top 15.
For his part, the tight-lipped Hearn seemed to confirm 'a name' would be in the opposing corner when he added mischievously: "Ricky is back in the gym in Essex with Tony Sims and is raring to go. He's really got the bit between his teeth and I am excited to see him with an appetite to get back into the ring and fighting for titles."
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