SCOTS fight legend Alex Morrison has backed Ricky Burns to shine brightly in the Lone Star State tonight.

In what is his first bout in seven months, the Coatbridge fighter will step into the ring this evening at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, attempting to keep his revival rolling on.

Formerly a two-weight world champion, Burns has endured a tough 14 months both in and out of the sport that seen him lose his lightweight title to American Terence Crawford and be declared bankrupt with debts of over £400,000.

Now Rickster has the chance to announce to the world that he is back to his best.

Having beaten Alexandre Lepelley back in October to kick-start his time at light-welterweight, Burns is now up against the undefeated home favourite of Omar Figueroa in a fight that will not only be broadcast live across the UK but also on terrestrial television in the US.

It is a stage his manager Morrison believes the Scottish boxer can perform on.

He said: "Ricky is fine. He's been over there for a few weeks and has a couple of sparring partners with him.

"Ricky's enjoying it over there in America. He's obviously missing home but it's been a long-time ambition of his to fight in the States and he's getting to achieve that.

"It's been a hard few months, he's had a terrible time of it. But he's feeling good about what he can do.

"All he needs to do is win this then he's in line for a world title fight."

Figueroa is undefeated after 25 fights with 18 knockouts to his name. The Texan will also have the support of a partisan 7000 home crowd very much behind him.

However, Morrison has pointed to the past to hint at what could be for Burns, and he has faith the 32-year-old has it in his locker to surprise the doubters.

"This is what Ricky always wanted, to fight in America. As long as I've known him it's something he wanted to do," said the boxing supremo.

"It will not be an easy fight for Ricky. He's up against someone who is younger and has home advantage, not to mention an excellent record.

"But the British public know what they will get with Ricky. He is a determined and spirited boxer, he just keeps going.

"He's done it before. He beat Kevin Mitchell back in 2012 which was no mean feat. He did well there because Mitchell was a promising fighter and he stopped him. Ricky surprised everybody.

"Tonight he has the chance to surprise a whole new audience."

Speaking ahead of tonight's fight, Burns underlined the importance to his career of recording a historic victory.

He said: "This fight means everything to me. I don't think my career can get any worse than it's been over the past year and all the distractions are out of my mind now.

"I just want to concentrate on boxing and I'm over here to give it everything I've got."

Burns also told The Ring: "I checked the odds as soon as the fight was announced because I knew I would be the underdog.

"People are looking at my last couple of performances and assuming I'm finished at the top level, but that just means I'm here with absolutely no pressure on me."