Ryan Burnett has insisted that he does not feel under any pressure, despite the daunting prospect of challenging for a world title in his first hometown headline fight in Belfast.
The 24-year-old, who claimed Olympic Youth gold for Ireland as an amateur in 2010, will challenge IBF world bantamweight champion Lee Haskins at the SSE Odyssey Arena on 10 June on a show promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.
Undefeated Burnett has gone 16-0 as a pro since turning over to the paid game four years ago, starting out under the tutelage of former world champion Ricky Hatton before linking up with Andy Lee’s trainer Adam Booth.
However, the Belfast native has not fought in Ireland since a low-profile undercard win in Dublin back in July 2015 while June’s world-title date will come two-and-a-half years since Burnett’s last bout in Belfast.
Despite the significance attached to his world-title opportunity and headline billing for his homecoming, the former World Championship Youth medallist claims he is happy to finally be in the limelight.
"There’s no pressure on me," said Burnett at today’s fight launch in Belfast’s Europa Hotel. "I’m only 24. This is all new to me. There’s no pressure on me whatsoever.
"If there’s pressure on anyone, it’s Lee Haskins because he’s the champion coming to my back yard to defend his belt.
"All the pressure is on him, there’s no pressure on me," insisted the Belfast native, who claimed British, WBO European and WBC international titles during his pro ‘apprenticeship’ on a number of UK undercards.
"I’ve paid my dues across the water. I moved to England and had nearly all my fights over there," said Burnett. "I’ve always wanted to come back to Belfast and I’d be saying to Eddie [Hearn], get your hand in your pocket," laughed the 24-year-old.
"I’m very excited and now I’m ready for my dream to become a reality on June 10… I can’t wait to get my hands on that world title and to start bringing big fights to Belfast."
Matchroom promoter Hearn claimed that he believes the time is right to back Burnett as a rising star in his hometown, calling on the Irish public to get behind the former amateur prospect.
"He’s had to fight on our shows without massive support… and it’s been difficult at times," admitted Hearn. "I originally thought we’d return to Belfast with Ryan for a British title, then I thought it would be a European title and it got bigger and bigger and eventually it became a world title."
Haskins is a 37-fight veteran with a 34-3 record, having gone undefeated over the past four-and-half years, claiming the full, legitimate version of the IBF world title with a points victory over Ivan Morales – brother of Mexican legend, Erik – a year ago.
The 33-year-old Bristol southpaw has only suffered one defeat in the past nine-and-a-half years, although his most recent victory over Darlington’s Stuart Hall last September was a close affair.
"I’ve watched a lot of Ryan Burnett and I’ve always thought he was a great talent… and he’s working with Adam Booth so they’ll both be ready for this fight," said Haskins. "I’m coming to the end of my career so I want these tough fights and prove I still have it.
"I’ve seen a lot of [Carl] Frampton fights and the way you [Irish fight fans] support your fighters is amazing… But I’ve boxed away before and I’m here to do it again," added the 33-year-old at today’s fight launch.
Burnett’s coach Booth, who trained Andy Lee en route to his world-title success, compared the bout to last Saturday’s heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko, labelling it as another battle between "youth and experience".
The trainer said: "You had it on Saturday where it was a classic example of youth and energy [against] experience…. And youth, energy and balls and a right uppercut won the day.
"But that doesn’t mean that it’s automatically going to be that way [here]. I know full well that Lee Haskins is the type of guy that a lot of people will make the cardinal mistake of underestimating… but we won’t," added Booth.
