FIGHTNEWZ.NET: Congratulations on your latest win against Ellis. Was that your career-best performance?
BURTON: "I think it was the best I’ve boxed against Ellis. He had come to win and told my manager
Dave Garside not to be disappointed because he was going to knock me out.
"I saw the openings to the body. He put his hands up and was trying to cover his head too much.
"When a big man fights a little man it is pretty hard to get them round the body but I could see there was
a massive opening.
"When I was trying to go to the head he was blocking a lot so as soon as I caught him with one good body
shout I thought I would exploit it.
"I would have got him in the next round anyway even if he hadn't retired, because I knew he was winded and
hurt and I knew my desire was a lot more than his.
"I want to go places, he has had 20 fights and is trying to relaunch his
career but I’m more hungry.
"Michael Hunter went to see his opponent in the dressing room after they had fought and apparently Ellis was still winded
20 minutes after I'd beaten him."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: What are you hoping 2008 brings you?
BURTON: "I'm ten unbeaten now and Ellis was another step up the ladder. Ideally I want
at least four fights, you never know because things pop up now and again.
“Different avenues come off, you might get an offer to do something that may cancel another fight
out, so there is always things popping up.
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: Who are you ready to take on? How good do you think you are in your
own mind at the moment?
BURTON: “I’m not bothered who I take on. It’s down to my trainer
Neil Fannan. He researches all the fighters and checks them out and verifies it.
“If it was up to me I would fight anyone but I want the right fights at the
right time.
“I want to progress and get to the top but have the right fights at the
right time and not have
a backward step.
“If you take a fight too soon or get a stupid defeat it puts you back two steps. At the moment I’m
doing well and getting the right fights and longer fights.
“I’ve had hard fights and gone away from home as the underdog. I stopped Paul Butlin and Franklin
Egobi - all his fans presumed he was going to knock me out.
“He came out to LL Cool J's Mamma Said Knock You Out.
“Butlin’s promoter couldn’t believe I beat him either. They took me down there
to get beaten.
“At the time on britishboxing.net, Matt Skelton had said that Butlin would challenge for a British
title in 2008 but I stopped him and obviously sickened him off a little bit.
“Things are going well and I’ve got a lot of trust in Neil Fannan. He gets me my fights and
he knows what I’m capable of.
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: What happened exactly in your spars with Chagaev?
BURTON: “With the Chagaev injury I was out for three months with a crack. Funnily enough, when I got
X-rayed I had a crack on the other side of my jaw.
“The doctor also said my nose had cracks all over it. I was just laughing at the time.
“He said it was lucky it hadn’t separated or anything and it would take eight weeks to heal
and it was a month to get back in properly training and sparring again.
“It was in Hamburg. You are just like a piece of meat over there.
“It was hard sparring at the Universum gym and I learned a lot from it.
“It was just like a fight. He was trying to knock me out and vice versa. If I could have I would have
done.
“It was just like a fight but at the end of the day it was good preparation for a fight.
“I’d only ever sparred six rounds and presumed I was doing six when I went over.
“They told me I was doing eight on my first day and I just got in and
didn’t really know
what it was all about at the time.
“I obviously did the eight rounds and he was like a Tyson-type, cutting the ring off, so I just kept
moving and tried to walk him on to shots.
“Because I’d never done eight rounds it was good but I was obviously blowing a bit.
“The next day, because I’d done eight the first day, it was a lot easier.
“Then I got injured on the last day in the last round and in the last 30 seconds!
“He caught me and my teeth slightly adjusted and straight away I thought something was wrong.
“I remember looking at the clock. I was over there by myself at the time, but it was good sparring
at the end of the day.
"I learned a lot from that, sparring with someone of his calibre.
He could punch quite hard with both
hands obviously as well.
“Even though I missed out on a fight when I came back I’d had a fight over
there and my opponent
- Istvan Kecskes - was nowhere near the class he was.
"Even though I didn’t fight him, the experience I got in
Germany was a lot better.
“I learned a lot, it was tough as well because I was over there by myself and when things weren’t
going my way there was no-one in my corner.
“You’ve got to pull yourself together. There was people in his corner
telling him what I’m
doing wrong but I had to compose myself and keep myself right with the basics and make sure I don’t fall to pieces."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: It didn't put you off the fight game at all then?
BURTON: "It didn’t put me off. I’d only had one professional fight and he was a two-time world
amateur champion who had beaten Felix Savon.
"As a pro he’d had 17 fights and had knocked out 15. It was good experience for me and as a pro I
was a novice.
"It only happened on the last day but when you go to these places, at the end of the day it’s like
a fight.
"You’ve got no-one in your corner and they have got someone in their corner. It’s
about mental toughness, you can’t fall to pieces. And come the later rounds you’ve got to rely on yourself to
pull together and pick your own faults and go out there and keep your hands up and do better."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: It's those kind of experiences that help make a champion.
BURTON: “I’ve been away and sparred by myself and at the end of the day you are in the ring
by yourself.
“Your corner can say what they want, but it’s down to you at the end of the day. So it was good
to go away and get the right mentality.
“When you go away you have to pull yourself together when it’s not going your way, it’s
tough. You haven’t got anyone advising you what to do, you’ve got to think for yourself.
“I think it’s a good sign. I thought I did very well against him but
obviously he was a class
above.
“I’d only had one fight and he had 17 fights unbeaten and knocked 15 out.
“I still held my own, I was 22. I did well and moved around and with his style he was trying to bang
me out.
“I’m moving up the right ladders and progressing and in the next couple of years if I keep training
and getting the right sparring, the only way I can go is up."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: You're a team-mate of former Commonwealth Games super heavyweight gold medallist David
Dolan. How much does it bring you on sparring him in the gym?
BURTON: “Having Dolan in the gym is brilliant. Obviously with him being Commonwealth
gold medallist, he has got a lot of experience.
“He is very cool and used to fight day after day and was England
captain.
“He has got a good pedigree and is very fit. He is just under 16 stone and has a good workrate.
“As soon as I hit him he is back in your face, which is brilliant. Because when I come to a fight
the pace is a lot, lot slower to what I’m used to in sparring.
“After I’d been sparring Dolan, even though I was ill when I fought Egobe - I lost half a stone
in weight in the days leading up to the fight and felt terrible - it was like slow motion because I was still very fit.
“It’s invaluable the sparring I’ve been doing with him and he is very good obviously,
his record speaks for itself."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: Will you ever fight each other?
BURTON: “We won’t meet, we are pals and spar with each other and obviously we are going to be
fighting different opponents, so it is going to work out well for both of us.
“I will be watching him, he will be watching me and we can confer with each other."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: Apparently your handlers were offered some big fights last year, like the unbeaten Cuban
Odlanier Solis and Audley Harrison?
BURTON: “Solis I got offered. Audley Harrison, my trainer Neil Fannan said
I had the chance to fight him in Ireland in December.
“He was supposed to be fighting Paul King but things happened to Paul King.
“Something happened anyway where there was no fight. John McDermott also got offered but Neil said
it was two fights too soon.
“He looks after me and knows when to take fights and when not to. He is happy with the progress that
I’m making and will do the right thing at the right time.
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: What was your amateur background?
BURTON: "I had 16 amateur fights and won 12 and reached two ABA semi-finals at super
heavyweight.
"David Price beat me and Luke Howkins stopped me controversially. The referee said ‘Stop’ and
as he did I stepped back and he stood forward and clattered me and rocked me a little bit.
"The referee just called it off straight away, which was disappointing
because it was the last round
and I was well ahead and there was only 30 seconds left of that one.
"I was about 10 points ahead. Price was the last amateur fight I had, I think it was 11-4."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: How did you get into boxing?
BURTON: "I always wanted to do it and liked contact sports. I played rugby and I also played American football
at international level.
"They had a team around Teesside at the time called the Cougars or something.
"I went and tried out for them and they said I was that good that they put me straight in the Great Britain
team.
"I hadn’t trained, all I’d done is boxing training. So I went down and
within three months
I was in the European Championships in Germany.
"I only ever played four games in my life and they were all internationals. I got the
Most Valuable Player at the European Championships and I’d only been playing for three months.
"It was in Berlin and I was a defensive end. It was funny because I was faster than all of the offence.
"When we used to do runs and sprints I used to beat them all and it was all due to my boxing training.
"I was a lot tougher than they were and more focused in my mind, which showed in games and by getting Most
Valuable Player.
"We came last in the tournament but I shone through. It was against Germany, Austria, France, Russia, there
was quite a few countries in it.
"I enjoyed it and got a couple of sacks and used to do quite well because I was quick on my feet and I could
sidestep.
"I’d had three amateur bouts at the time. I got told I could get a trial for Scottish Claymores and
would have a future in the sport.
"But boxing is where my heart lies and I’ve always wanted to box. I started when I was 18 and had
always fancied it.
"I got into it through a friend at the time and went down to Paul Hamilton’s gym in Darlington and
started from there.
"I eventually moved from there to the Headland ABC in Hartlepool and turned pro from there to Neil Fannan’s
gym.
"I also had one thai fight, it was against a big, muscle-bound coloured guy down London.
"My opponent had pulled out and his trainer stepped in. He was massive compared to me, at the time I was
just under 15 stone but my hands were superior to his.
"So I switched back to my boxing stance and that’s where my heart is, I knew that straight away.
"As soon as I went back to boxing I knocked him spark out. I knocked him down once, he got back up smiling
at me so I just charged in and knocked him down again with a hook.
"He was running around the ring trying to get away from me and I dropped him and knocked him out after a
minute and 14 seconds of the first round.
"Boxing was always my thing, I still enjoy the thai boxing but prefer using my hands."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: Isn't your dad a doctor. What does he make of you boxing?
BURTON: "My dad is a psychiatrist. He is one of those people who is happy if I’m happy.
"My dad’s dad boxed in the Navy, so that’s where I must get it from at the end of the day.
"My dad doesn’t come to the fights, it’s not really his scene. It’s not that he doesn’t
pay an interest, he does.
"My mam also used to be a nurse when she was younger but they are happy as long as I’m happy and healthy."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: Who do you see as your main domestic rivals? There are a few lads coming through, like
Derek Chisora and Sam Sexton.
BURTON: "There is a pool of young lads coming through and there is some good, tough fights out there.
"I’ve just got to keep my head on, keep focused and working hard and there is a lot of fights out
there down the line.
"I’m looking forward to the future and I’ve got ultimate trust in my trainer Neil Fannan.
"I don’t have a specific someone that I want to fight, I just put my trust
in Neil and whoever
he gets me, that is who I’m fighting.
"It’s how you progress up the ladder. He knows who I should fight and when I should fight them and
how good they are.
"The main thing is that I’m learning all the time. I haven’t had the biggest of careers
so I just need to keep learning and getting the right fights at the right time."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: How happy are you with your progress so far?
BURTON: "I’ve started to relax more now, I’m fighting better people and I’m learning a
lot.
"I was tense and robotic at the start but I’m stringing combinations together now and I’m more
fluent.
"Obviously I’m still a bit stiff and I could do this and that, but every
fighter could do things
better.
"As long as I’m learning and progressing, that’s the main thing.
"It’s all a learning curve, especially at this stage of my career because I’ve had 10 fights
and hopefully I will have another 10 fights and be a lot better then."
FIGHTNEWZ.NET: What are your main ambitions in boxing?
BURTON: "I just set my sights as I move along and on my next fight. I don’t really want to plan ahead
for the future because I get superstitious.
"When you start shouting that you are going to do this, that and the other you end up hitting a stumbling
block and get a knockback.
"I don’t want to jinx myself and I always just concentrate on what’s ahead. And what’s
ahead is my next fight, possibly in April.
"That’s when they are looking to get me out again, nothing has been decided as of yet.
'That’s when I’m hoping to get back out, so hopefully - fingers crossed - I get a fight in April.
"I’m straight back in the gym on Monday and starting training."
