RICKY Burns fights to defend his world title at the SSE Hydro on Friday night. But all people want to ask him about is his next bout after that.

Adrien Broner will be ringside in Glasgow to suss out the Coatbridge fighter, with outline agreement already in place for a money-spinning fight between the Scot and the controversial four-weight world champion in Las Vegas in December. First, though, Burns knows he must get past Kiryl Relikh, a big punching Belarusian who is trained and promoted by fight legend Ricky Hatton and who has a perfect 21 wins on his record, 19 of them by way of knockout.

While Burns is dreaming of Vegas, Relikh has his undivided attention. “People keep asking me about Broner," said Burns. "That’s all what people want to talk about. I know if this goes well then it could be a possible next fight - and I know he’s coming over to Glasgow on Friday.

“I’ve always said I’d love to fight in Las Vegas," he added. "I’ve been there on holiday but I’ve only ever seen Garth Brooks rather than a fight. I’ve fought in Texas before, which was good, going out there for three weeks before the fight.

“But there’s no point talking about America. I’ve got a hard fight ahead of me first against Relikh. He’s coming here unbeaten in 21 fights and he’s had a lot of knockouts. Never mind all the Broner stuff - I need to deal with Relikh first. I know I’ll keep getting asked about it but I'm not entertaining any talk. I’ve never been a boxer who looks beyond the next fight.”

Relikh is hardly short of confidence. Whether the old Glaswegian word gallus translates into Belarusian or not, he confidently predicts that he will knock Scotland's first-ever three-weight world champion out in the sixth round on Friday night to leave his dreams of that money-spinning bout in Las Vegas in tatters.

“Burns will not be fighting Broner because, for that to take place, he would need to beat me first and that is not going to happen," said Relikh. “So I will take Ricky’s title and then I will fight Broner and I will stop him as well. That is my destiny. I am not being disrespectful to the other fighters when I say this – I am just better than they are.

“I’m very confident going into this fight but I have always believed in my own ability – the first time I met Ricky Hatton I wanted to get into the ring with him!" the Belarusian added. "Someone asked me yesterday who my favourite boxer is and I said: ‘Me.’ That’s how good I think I am.

“The only other boxer I believe to be on the same level as me at the moment is Gennady Golovkin and I want to emulate what he has done. He has had 33 KOs in 36 fights and that’s the type of fighter I am. I’ve come here not just to beat Ricky Burns but to stop him.

“I predict that I will end the fight in six rounds. I know that he is a tough man and that he boxed on with a broken jaw in an earlier fight so I will probably need to knock him out. However, that’s what I intend to do every time I step into a ring so this will be no different.

“You might not recognise the names of the opponents I have fought and this will be the first time I have met a world champion but I will be leaving Glasgow with the belt. We have studied DVDs of him in his other fights and he likes to run. Unfortunately for him, I like to fight and that is what we will be doing on Friday. I want this bout to be a war and I will make it one."