PROMOTER Eddie Hearn today revealed how Ricky Burns turned down a big money fight in the United States to defend his WBA world super-lightweight title in Scotland.

Burns will take on Belarusian challenger Kiryl Relikh in the SSE Hydro Arena tomorrow evening after turning down the chance to face four-time world champion Adrien Broner.

Hearn revealed how the chance to fight in front of his own supporters swayed his mind - despite the fact he could have earned five times as much taking on Broner.

“I presented two options to Ricky and his manager Alex Morrison,” he said. “As I wrote them down I thought: ‘I know what their answer is going to be’. It was a no-brainer.

“But they came back and said that they wanted Relikh first. That’s lost commission for me there. It did quite surprise me.

“Ricky will make five times the money for that bout against Broner than he will for going in against Relikh, but that’s never really been his motivation.

“When you talk about that with Ricky, he doesn’t want to know. If all he wanted was the money he’d be fighting Broner next.

“The one thing Ricky loves to do is fight. As long as he’s boxing and he has a date to get ready for, he’s as happy as Larry. For me, as a greedy promoter, I look at it differently.”

Hearn added: “The thing with Ricky is that he loves boxing in Scotland and the Broner fight couldn’t take place here.

“I don’t think that he felt comfortable about beating Michele di Rocco in Glasgow in May and then just walking away from Scottish boxing. He told me to arrange for his first defence to be in Glasgow and then he’ll fight anyone, anywhere.

“By the way, that doesn’t just mean Broner. Terence Crawford’s manager was on the ‘phone about two weeks after Broner, saying that Crawford wants to unify the titles.

“Unification fights are the ones Ricky wants to be in. But I love the Broner fight and I always have done because I believe that Ricky will beat him. I hope Adrian turns up on Friday because he’ll be hilarious – he’s totally box office."

Hearn, though, admitted the contest against the 26-year-old, who has won 19 of his 21 fights by knockout and is trained by former world light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, is treacherous.

He said: “Relikh is a no-win fight for Ricky because nobody knows him and most people expect him to win – and he should win.

"Like Ricky Hatton said, this kid hasn't got the experience to start worrying and panicking about the crowds. He's just going to go and have a fight. And that's the danger because he can really punch.

“On paper, experience and skill says this is a good win for Ricky Burns. The danger period in this fight is going to be the first six rounds. Once Ricky establishes the jab and starts to box him I think he will tire him. I think Relikh will run out of ideas as well.

“But he is still going to be dangerous until that power goes, which might take until the back end of the fight. The first three rounds are going to be very dangerous for Ricky. Notoriously, he isn't a great starter."

Hearn added: "When he was talking to him, I was thinking: '(Gennady) Golovkin and the whole eastern European thing. He is 21-0. What if he is the next superkid out of that part of the world?' That's what Ricky Hatton thinks. They think this kid is the next Golovkin, (Sergey) Kovalev."