trainer Billy Nelson says WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns will be back to his best against Mexican Raymundo Beltran at the SECC on September 7 in his next title defence.

The champion delivered a below-par display in his previous outing but still forced previously unbeaten Puerto Rican mandatory challenger Jose A Gonzalez to quit on his stool in May.

But Nelson has no doubt his man left his best work in the gym after the cancellation of three previous outings took the edge of his work.

Now he has promised Burns will be punch perfect.

The fight coach said: "Looking back at it now I think the cancellation of the three different fights against Liam Walsh, Jose Ocampo and Miguel Vazquez drained Ricky a lot more than we thought at the time.

"He would train and spar for six weeks and then there would be a call off and then he would have to start again and once more it would go by the wayside.

"To have that done to you three times would undermine any fighter when he eventually gets back in the ring.

"The other aspect of this was that Walsh, Ocampo and Vazquez all had different styles, so we were constantly changing the sparring to make sure we were ready for something different.

"When you consider we started training for the Liam Walsh fight, which was scheduled for December 15, at the start of September and more or less trained all the way through to May 11, when Ricky fought Gonzalez, is it any wonder Ricky was not at his best?"

When it comes to No.8 ranked challenger Beltran, then Nelson has no doubt the 31 year-old will force Burns to deliver his best.

The trainer said: "This is a high-profile fight as Beltran is a big name in the US and is in the top 10 of every major governing body. He is a quality boxer.

"But I believe there are questions over him defensively and his ability to sustain things down through the championship rounds.

"I am confident that if Ricky boxes at his best he will win."