WBA world super-lightweight champion Ricky Burns made a successful first defence of his belt against Kiryl Relikh with a thrilling points victory at Glasgow's SSE Hydro Arena.
The 33-year-old from Coatbridge entered the ring with the prospect of a fight against American four-weight champion Adrien Broner on the cards if he came thorough unscathed.
Burns struggled at times to get on top of Relikh during a pulsating battle, but came through on the judges' scorecards, 118-110 116-112 116-112.
It was certainly a tough fight for the Scotsman.
The atmosphere was electric as Burns entered the ring but the relatively unknown challenger started with some confidence.
Relikh, under the guidance of former world champion Ricky Hatton, boasted 19 knockouts in 21 wins - albeit he made the 10-stone weight only at the third attempt.
But the 26-year-old Belarusian quietened the crowd in round one by forcing the pace and finding his way through the guard.
Three-weight world champion Burns, who won the belt in May by knocking out Michele Di Rocco in the same arena in eight rounds, had to fight mostly off the back foot in the early stages.
Slick-moving Relikh kept coming forward while avoiding most of Burns' attempts to counter.
A straight right by Burns near the end of the fourth got the crowd cheering again and he was looking better in the next round when he found the target more often.
The fans found their voice again as Burns put some combinations together but Relikh shrugged them off and again had his man back-pedalling.
It was turning into a difficult night for the Scot, who was having to tap into his vast experience.
Relikh kept stalking but two stunning rights by Burns in the eighth appeared to sow some seeds of doubt in the younger man's mind.
The snap had left Relikh's punches, with the spring appearing to leave his legs and the champion began to impose himself.
The Belarusian, however, came back in the 10th with renewed vigour, scoring with a big right and a big left.
The men swapped punches in the 12th - the home fighter went to the ground but it was due to a slip - before the final bell signalled a successful defence which owed much to Burns' resilience.
