JIM WATT has warned Ricky Burns that "his career is on the line" when he faces France's Alexandre Lepelley at the First Direct Arena, in Leeds tonight.

After watching his form and his fortunes plummet at lightweight, where a debilitating battle to make the 135lbs limit undermined the Scot, Burns has elected to move up to light-welterweight (140lbs), in a desperate bid to salvage his place at emeritus pugilistic level.

Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has shrewdly placed Burns in a supporting slot on this evening's European featherweight title clash in Yorkshire between Josh Warrington and Davide Diela in order to shield the Coatbridge man from the intense scrutiny that comes with his every outing north of the border.

Now Watt, the legendary former WBC lightweight champion, who will be Sky Sports' expert analyst tonight at ringside, has admitted he is unsure of what to expect from his fellow former Scottish world champion after his second move up through the weight categories in three years.

But of one thing Gentleman Jim is sure, a defeat would leave Burns with nowhere to run. "The bottom line, whichever way you look at it, is that Ricky's career is on the line here," said Watt.

He continued: "Before his defeat to Dejan Zlaticanin we knew that a loss would seriously damage Ricky and leave real question marks but at least that defeat came in an eliminator for the WBC lightweight title.

"Lepelley may be ranked number eight in Europe but he is not at, nor has he ever been at, world title level and should Ricky come off second best I would think that Matchroom would badly struggle to put him on and there would really be no place for Ricky to go.

"However positive you want to be, that is where we are at with this fight. Ricky has no option but to deliver and I would say he needs to look pretty impressive in doing so."

Since his high-watermark four round destruction of Kevin Mitchell back on September 22, 2012, Burns' form has disintegrated dramatically.

The former two-weight world champion was able to defeat Jose Gonzalez via a ninth-round stoppage that came through his indomitable will to win rather than a consummate delivery of the noble art.

Next Burns salvaged a controversial draw against Raymundo Beltran, albeit despite suffering a broken jaw in the second round, but in neither performance was there the accuracy and speed of punch that had been the foundations of the 31-year-old's rise to world title glory.

Worse was to come when Burns lost his WBO lightweight title in a gun shy defeat at the hands of American Terence Crawford, in March, which left many wondering if the Scot had been indelibly mentally scarred by the horrific jaw fracture suffered against the brutish Beltran.

The split-points defeat by the crude and unheralded Zlaticanin in June in which Burns was repeatedly suckered on to the Montenegrin's left hook and floored in the opening round, highlighted a glaring flaw which, despite Burns' enlisting of revered English coach Tony Sims, continued to give cause for concern.

Now with four months of solid work with the Essex trainer under his belt and facing an orthodox opponent who is far from heavy handed - Lepelley has just three stoppages from 19 fights - at a new weight category that has afforded Burns an extra five pounds of leeway, there can be no excuses. Yet Watt is worried about the potential for unwanted drama unfolding in the ring tonight.

"Before his recent bouts Ricky had looked great in training but fell flat on fight night and it could have been down to the fact that he walks around at 10 stone but was being asked to perform at 135lbs. We'll only find out if the weight issue has been the problem tonight," added Watt. "Quality wise Ricky should have no problem with Lepelley, but then we said that about Zlaticanin back in June.

"Yet the Frenchman carries a number eight EBU ranking and, if Ricky does come through, he could be just one fight away from the European title which has always been a great springboard to a world title crack, as it proved for me.

"The one thing you have to say about Ricky is that he has never lost his love for boxing or his enthusiasm for it, but tonight we will find out if he still has what it takes to do himself justice. I really hope he comes through because Scottish boxing needs Ricky Burns."