RICKY BURNS looks to have earned himself a million dollar superfight with former four-weight world champion Adrien Broner.

The 33-year-old Coatbridge ace retained his WBA super-lightweight title at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow last night against big-hearted Belarusian Kiryl Relikh.

But Scotland's first three-weight world champion was flattered by the margin of his points success.

The judges scored it 118-110 and 116-112, twice, but it was very much closer than that.

Burns came to the ring with a record of 40 wins, five losses and a single draw while Relikh was undefeated in 21 contests, having won 18 of them by knock-out.

But while the challenger could boast a perfect record, he had nowhere near Burns' level of experience against superior opposition.

This was in fact Burns' 12th world title bout stretching over six years and three weight divisions while it was Relikh's first.

The venue was not sold-out but the atmosphere was nevertheless intimidating, although Relikh showed no outward signs of being fazed by his hostile reception.

related stories

Relikh, trained and promoted by ring legend Ricky Hatton, in fact matched his rival's initial efforts and looked reasonably comfortable doing so.

He even had the temerity to take the fight to the champion in the second round and win it.

The signs early on were not encouraging from a Scottish perspective and with Relikh dictating the tactics, Burns needed to raise his game.

The crowd, sensing the potential for an upset, tried to raise Burns with a series of chants in the fourth round but it was only towards the end of the three minutes that he responded with a brief flurry of punches.

And he had his best round so far when he caught Relikh with a left to the jaw and drew inspiration from it in the fifth.

Burns began the sixth in similar fashion, again catching his opponent with another left, but Relikh was far from finished.

Having said that, by the eighth Relikh had begun to run out of steam and when Burns connected with a right hook the odds suddenly swung his way.

Relikh was also given a stern warning by referee Howard Foster for aiming is shoulder into Burns' face, a sure sign that he was growing increasingly frustrated.

But just when it seemed Relikh had given his all, he suddenly went for broke in the 10th and drove Burns onto the ropes with a sustained onslaught before also claiming the penultimate round.

However, Burns held on to retain his title with a less than convincing performance although Broner wasn't there to see it after he failed to keep his promise to attend.

Dillian Whyte captured the vacant British heavyweight title against Ian Lewison in the main support to the world title bout.

The Brixton rivals plodded through 10 rounds with Whyte's superior fitness and agility the deciding factors.

Source: Read Full Article