Ricky Burns will have to be wary of Jose Gonzalez in Saturday night’s WBO world lightweight boxing title fight at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, according to the champion’s promoter, Eddie Hearn.
The 29-year-old mandatory challenger from Puerto Rico arrived in Scotland this week with 17 knockouts from an unblemished 22-fight record.
Burns, 30, has not fought since beating Englishman Kevin Mitchell in September last year, but it is the desire and the hunger of Gonzales which Hearn highlighted.
“It is the ultimate to get to that position,”he said.
“There are no re-match clauses, no options, it is a free shot at the world title. He is undefeated and he believes he can win this fight, that’s why he is here and he poses a real threat.
“These kids from Puerto Rico are tough, they have a hard upbringing and they make it the hard way. This guy has a shot at millions of dollars so you know what he is going to do.
“It is only human nature he will put everything on the line and that makes him really dangerous. So Ricky knows he is in for a real fight.”
Hearn is expecting more than 6,000 fans to make their way to the newly-built venue in the east end of Glasgow
Burns and Gonzalez headline the bill with Greenock’s John Simpson facing Choi Tseveenpurev for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental super featherweight title.
Other Scots fighters include unbeaten trio David Brophy, Jon Slowey and Stephen Simmons, who takes on Michael Sweeney in a 10-round Celtic cruiserweight clash.
Hearn said: “The Scottish fans create a great atmosphere and that is what we want.
“There are no frills with Ricky Burns. He puts the hard work in, he goes in there and has a war and people like that
“But we are not just showcasing Ricky Burns, we are showcasing Scottish boxing with a lot of Scottish boxers on the undercard so I am expecting a special night.”