EDDIE Hearn believes Ricky Burns is a different fighter now his legal and financial worries are behind him. The 32-year-old from Coatbridge will fight in Scotland for the first time for two years in May when he takes on Michele di Rocco of Italy at Glasgow's SSE Hydro for the vacant WBA light welterweight title and the honour of becoming Scotland's first-ever three-weight world champion. Burns has lost three and controversially drawn one of his last seven outings but promoter Hearn reckons that he will produce the goods now that the dispute with his former promoter Frank Warren which left him insolvent is a thing of the past.

“One of the most appealing things about Ricky is that he’s a very straightforward man," said Hearn. "He doesn’t care about the flash stuff and this and that. He loves to compete, he loves the sport and this is what’s making him happier than anything to be involved in an event like this.

“I know he’s been through some tough stuff, but his boxing is almost different," Hearn added. "It takes him away from everything else. I don’t think he realised what all of the hassle that was going on outside the ring did to his career during that period. It did affect him. I lot of people didn’t think it would but subconsciously it did, more than anything.

“I think it’s over now, he knows the situation he’s in. Everything is solid in that respect. When he was going to box, he’d get a legal letter arriving on the Friday night, there were lawyers trying to put him off his flow but now he’s in the position he’s in. From nowhere we have gone from finding an eliminator to finding a shot at a world title to become a three-weight world champion and opening the doors to mega-fights."

Tied up in all this is a struggle for the soul of Scottish boxing. While interest in big fight nights watching Burns or Scott Harrison at the Braehead Arena waned, now there is an alluring new venue in the form of the Hydro and a new cadre of native talent, led by Commonwealth fighters Charlie Flynn and Joe Ham. It is no surprise to find that both will be on the May 28 bill, along with Glaswegian veteran Willie Limond.

"This was the fight to bring us back to Scotland, I’m not sure Burns against [Jose] Zepeda was the fight to do that but Burns for a world title definitely is," he said. "I’ve already seen the ticket sales and they are steady so we can expect between six and seven thousand for this fight.

"We have been looking for an excuse to come back here. On my social media I get abuse every day from Scottish boxing fans telling me, ‘you aren’t supporting us’. I tell them that when we had the Braehead fight you didn’t support us either. I know it was Braehead and it wasn’t ideal for boxing but we have been wanting to come back. I’m exited about Charlie Flynn and Joe Ham, they are a couple of young fighters you can keep your eye on and get behind."

Di Rocco said he felt his opponent was 'past his prime' but Hearn reckons his recent record is merely a testament to the calibre of opponent he is prepared to face. "Someone told me his record in the last seven fights wasn’t great but I could have got him seven wins, quite easily. He didn’t want those kind of fights. So he’s been fighting top level guys and you can’t always win."