Sunday 16 April 2017 14:13, UK
Ricky Burns lost his world title and missed out on making history again, as he lost the unification fight against Julius Indongo on points.
The Coatbridge star had the SSE Hydro crowd behind him only to come up against a talented and tireless super-lightweight two-title champion.
Burns carried the WBA belt into the ring and was trying to take the IBF version away from Indongo but, for all of his efforts, the Scot was outshone over 12 tough rounds, losing a unanimous decision of 120-108, 118-110, 116-112.
Burns was hoping to become Scotland's first unified champion - and possibly set up a chance to fight in Las Vegas - yet his dream slowly turned into a painful nightmare on home turf.
The 11th and 12th rounds saw him fall to the canvas and although neither was deemed a knockdown, they underlined just how hard Indongo had made it.
As expected the 'Blue Machine' made a fast start, his wild and wide shots firing in from all angles, with Burns doing well to avoid the majority of them.
Many expected the experienced Scotsman to allow his foe to use up his energy yet few anticipated Indongo to be so accurate and varied with his punches, often mixing it up with blows to the body and head.
The first three rounds saw his left do a lot of damage, with the southpaw often following it up behind a ramrod jab as Burns was unable to move out of range in time.
By the fourth, 'Rickster' needed all his know-how to stay safe, Indongo stalking him across the ring and worryingly catching him with ease.
A blistering barrage of rights in the fifth and a double body shot with either hand seemed to take something out of the Scotsman and although he rallied in the seventh, landing a decent counter right of his own, there was little change in the momentum.
Indongo seemed to sense it and the eighth saw him lay into Burns again, pushing him back, working the body and clearly looking to become the first man to stop the three-weight world champion.
Of course, Burns was never going to allow that to happen easily and he responded in usual fashion, a flourish in the ninth and 10th producing the first sign that Indongo was tiring.
Even so, his height and reach advantage had caused Burns problems from the start and in the final two rounds, the Namibian had him down on his knees.
