Wednesday 5 October 2016 05:53, UK
Kiryl Relikh wants to follow in the footsteps of his hero, Gennady Golovkin, and stop Ricky Burns on British soil.
The undefeated Belarusian challenges for the WBA super-lightweight title at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on Friday night, live on Sky Sports 2.
Relikh (21-0-KO19) is trained by Ricky Hatton and spends a month in Manchester before each fight but still lives in Minsk.
Belarus is on the eastern border of Russia and although Golovkin's Kazakhastan is more than 1,500 miles away, the 26-year-old wants to do what 'Triple G' did when defeated Kell Brook last month.
"I have seen what Gennady Golovkin had done and I want to do the same," he told Sky Sports through an interpreter.
"I want to be recognised like Golovkin. Like most I am a Golovkin fan. He is a hero of mine, not just because of the way he fights but because he has shown the world what people from this part of Europe can do."
Relikh has boxed in Britain three times since teaming up with Hatton back in 2013 but had never been to Scotland until the press conference to announce the WBA super-lightweight world title fight.
Burns (40-5-1-KO14) will be making the first defence of his third title at a different weight, and although he is taking a step up in class, Relikh is confident he can take the title back to Belarus.
"Ricky Burns is a good world champion but I am going to make this hard for him," he said.
"I want to turn it into a war. I have knocked out 19 of my 21 opponents and I want to do the same to Ricky Burns."
Watch Ricky Burns v Kyril Relikh, live on Sky Sports 2 this Friday from 8pm.
