Hosea Burton may well have won a Lonsdale belt in a career that has seen him dominate domestically –– but he is looking to go one better.
The 34-year-old was last in the ring in December last year when he outpointed Darryl Sharp over six rounds.
Burton won on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s bludgeoning of Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London as ‘The Gypsy King’ retained his WBC world heavyweight crown with a 10th-round stoppage over his old pal, exclusively live on BT Sport Box Office.
Now, after moving up in weight from light-heavyweight to cruiserweight, the former British champion has revealed that it will be the end of his career if he loses his next fight on Friday night.
‘The Hammer’ takes on Ellis Zorro for the vacant WBO European title at the weight at Bethnal Green’s famous York Hall venue, exclusively live on BT Sport, over 10 rounds.
And he has insisted that we won’t see any more of him should he not get his hand raised on the night.
“This, to me, is the end of the story if I can’t win this fight,” Burton, who has a record of 28-3 with 12 quick in a career that has spanned longer than a decade, told iFL TV in the aftermath of the weigh-in for the fight. “This is as far as it goes [if I lose] because I’m not here to make the numbers up, I’m not here to be a gatekeeper. I’m not that.”
Zorro, 30, shot to fame last year when he won a Boxxer Series tournament at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse.
On the back of that win, Zorro (15-0, 6 KOs) inked a promotional pact with Frank Warren and Queensberry and begun his stint under the company’s guidance with an eight-round points win over Dec Spelman last September.
He is heading into his maiden title tilt but for Burton, who has been there, done it and worn the t-shirt, the aspiration to push on burns brightly.
“I still want to be a world champion and that’s my goal,” he continued. “If I can’t beat somebody like [Ellis Zorro], what good am I doing being a boxer. I can earn more money going to work.”
“There are lots of big fights that can be made easily because there are lots of Brits that are up at the top of the division, but I can’t look past this one.
“If I lose, I’ll pack it in, but I’m not going to.
“I’m going to win this fight and I’m going to look very good doing it.”