RICKY BURNS has made it clear that his move up to light-welterweight will be based on a one-fight-at-a-time strategy.
The 32 year-old will face the Frenchman Alexandre Lepelley at the First Direct Arena, Leeds, on Saturday night, in a fight the Scot hopes will be the first step en route to an historic third world title in three different weight divisions.
Lepelley is ranked No.8 by the European Boxing Union so Burns goes into the contest knowing that victory could take him to the brink of a European title fight and claiming a belt which has eluded him thus far.
Revelling in his role on the undercard of Saturday's show - it is the result of promoter Eddie Hearn's decision to take Burns out of the goldfish bowl scrutiny he faces in his native Scotland as headline act - the former World Boxing Organization lightweight and super-featherweight champion is confident that he can reclaim former glories and turn the first page on an exciting new chapter in his 13-year pro career.
"I think people are going to see a strong Ricky Burns tomorrow but this is the first fight at light-welterweight, I need to take it one fight at a time to settle down at 140lbs," said Burns. "It's a great weight division and, even at domestic level, there are some big fights to be made and I'll go whatever way Eddie takes me.
"First I want to get Lepelley out of the way and we'll see where we are going to go; there are big fights [to be had] out there domestically and on the world scene but winning this fight is the key to getting to them.
"Lepelley is an experienced fighter with a good record and the fact he is ranked up at eight in the EBU underlines that. So to beat a guy with that type of ranking in my first fight at 140lbs would be a great start to life at light-welterweight."
Burns will be contesting his second fight since he switched coaches to the Englishman Tony Sims after the disastrous split points' decision defeat in June by the Montenegrin Dejan Zlaticanin that prompted his second jump in weight class.
Four months down the line, the Scot is confident that he has had time to absorb his coach's promptings while also benefitting from the extra 5lbs leeway he has enjoyed in the build-up to the fight with Lepelley.
"The last fight, [against] Zlaticanin, was a more crushing defeat than actually losing my world title," said Burns. "During the fight I knew what was happening but I couldn't get out of the way of his shots; he was looking for the big overhand left hook and, every time he threw it, I knew it was coming but I couldn't evade them.
"Trying to boil myself down to 9st 9lb was draining the energy out of me. I was really, really struggling to get the weight off; it just wasn't budging and it did affect my performance.
"I know that what I've done in the gym has prepared me for the Lepelley fight; maybe he has been a late change to my original opponent but now I have moved up I feel much stronger and ready for anyone."
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