RICKY BURNS was made to dig deep to retain his WBO lightweight as Jose Gonzalez threatened to spoil the party in Glasgow.
Burns, 30, had his hands full in the opening half of the fight and was forced to endure an onslaught in the seventh as his mandatory challenger went for the kill at the Emirates Arena.
But the Scot refused to give ground and Gonzalez appeared troubled by the fact he had not managed to put the champion away.
With his spirit broken, the previously unbeaten Puerto Rican refused to get off his stool for the 10th round after claiming he had suffered an injury.
A relieved Burns said: “He caught me with a few good shots — but I proved I can take a good shot.
“He did hurt me in that seventh round, but that’s when I just decided to stand my ground and trade back with him.
"He caught me with a good few shots. I had a quick look up and I could see the ref and he was having a good look.
“I think he was thinking about stopping it but I just fired straight back with my own punches.
“Maybe I was guilty of over-stretching as well. I’m out there to make the fight exciting, but maybe I need to go back to the drawing board a wee bit.”
Fighting under the Matchroom banner for the first time, Burns was desperate to make an impression in front of his fellow countrymen.
The Coatbridge fighter found it difficult to get to grips with Gonzalez’s style but showed plenty of heart to hang in there as his opponent gave it everything during that pulsating seventh round.
Burns said: “I knew going into the fight he was a good boxer and that he could punch — and he was a very heavy hitter in both hands.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult fight, we just didn’t know just how difficult or how awkward he was going to be.
“It is hard when you try to fight somebody who doesn’t want to commit. They make you miss and they make you pay and that’s what he was doing, stealing the rounds.
“I was getting caught with stupid shots on the counter, shots that I shouldn’t have been caught with. I think I learned my lesson from that.
“My trainer Billy [Nelson] was saying I was lunging in, but I think that was because I was trying to go out and go to town a bit.
“I knew that the rounds were close — they’ve said that the judges had me behind.
“But I felt the round before he pulled out he was getting tired and that’s when I started upping the workrate.
“I take my hat off to him — he’s a class, class opponent. He was very good technically and very hard to hit."
Matchroom supremo Eddie Hearn added: “He had a lot of pressure on him — the pressure of a new start and also the pressure of a nation on his shoulders.
“Gonzalez is a class, class fighter, very awkward.
“I felt Ricky was breaking him down — he’d won the last two rounds and I thought he was going to go on and win three more.
“But sometimes when you’re not at your best, to show heart and the determination that Ricky did shows he is a champion.
“He showed unbelievable courage in the seventh round, he dug in there and that’s when he found his best.
“We’ll be back here in September for another huge night.”
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