RICKY BURNS insists his move to light-welterweight will be based on a policy of one fight at a time.

The 32-year-old faces Alexandre Lepelley in Leeds tomorrow night, in a fight he hopes will be the first step to a historic third world title in three different weight divisions.

Lepelley is rated number eight by the EBU, and victory could take the Coatbridge fighter to the cusp of a European title fight and the claiming of a belt he has so far failed to annex.

Revelling in his role on the undercard of tomorrow's show - which has come as a result of promoter Eddie Hearn's decision to take Burns' out of the goldfish bowl scrutiny he faces in his native Scotland as the headline act - the former WBO Lightweight and super-featherweight champion is confident he can reclaim former glories against Lepelley and turn the first page on an exciting new chapter in his 13-year pro career.

Burns said: "I think people are going to see a strong Ricky Burns tomorrow but this is the first fight at light-welterweight. I need to take it one fight at a time to settle down at 140lbs. "It's a great weight division and even at domestic level there are some big fights to be made and I'll go whatever way Eddie takes me.

"But first I want to get Lepelley out of the way and we'll start to see where we are going to go. There are big fights out there domestically and on the world scene but winning this fight is the key to getting to them.

"Lepelley is an experienced fighter with a good record and the fact he is ranked up at eight in the EBU underlines that.

"So to beat a guy with that type of ranking in my first fight at 140lbs would be a great start to life at light-welterweight."

Burns will be having his second fight under Englishman Tony Sims tutelage, after the disastrous split points' decision defeat in June, at the hands of Montenegrin Dejan Zlaticanin that prompted his second jump in weight-class.

Four months down the line the Scot is confident that he has had time to absorb his coach's promptings while also benefitting from the extra five pounds leeway he has enjoyed during his build-up to the meeting with Lepelley.

"The last fight, Zlaticanin, was a more crushing defeat than actually losing my world title," admitted Burns.

"During the fight I knew what was happening but I couldn't get out of the way of his shots. He was looking for the big overhand left hook and every time he threw it I knew it was coming but I couldn't evade them.

"Trying to boil myself down to 9st 9lbs was just draining the energy out of me and when I look back at it, I was really struggling to get the weight off. It just wasn't budging and it did affect my performance.

"In my mind I know that what I have done in the gym has prepared me for the Lepelley fight. Now I have moved up I feel I am going to be much stronger and ready for anyone."