Two weight world champion Ryan Burnett joined Tuesday's OTB AM to talk about the 'freak' injury which stopped him in his tracks and will see him out of action for a considerable amount of time.
The skillful Belfast boxer was beginning to find his rhythm in his last bout against Nonito Donaire when he collapsed to the canvas after throwing a right hand.
"It's been a month and it's still so hard to take," he told Andy Lee. "I mean, I was just settling into things - I was just starting to find my range and everything. I thought the next few rounds I was going to start to takeover and start upping my tempo and it was just a freak accident. That's what they've put it down to - it was just a complete freak accident. And, it is what it is."
Leading into the fight, Burnett said there were no signs of what was to come and training was going well: "Nothing, just the usual niggles. There was nothing around my back, nothing around my stomach - nothing at all. Everything was, I was 100%.
"Right near the end of the round -I was feeling something in my side where it just wasn't right and anytime I was throwing my right hand - it just felt as if my side was twinging a bit. So, I got back into the corner and I said to Adam, 'Look, there's something not right here - I don't know what it is but I just feel something'.
"He said to me 'Just go out into the next round and see how it goes' and when I went out and threw that right hand - it just felt like someone had pulled my insides out. It was excruciating."
Burnett now faces up to six months out of action while his injury heals but is itching to get the chance to face-off against Donaire again, "'I want Donaire to come through, I want my revenge on him."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
