Ryan Burnett

Ryan Burnett, a Northern Irish boxer from Belfast who represented Ireland as an amateur, competed professionally at bantamweight and super bantamweight. Born on May 21, 1992, he became the unified IBF and WBA bantamweight champion during a professional career lasting from 2013 to 2019. He retired with 20 wins, one defeat and no draws, including ten victories inside the distance. An orthodox boxer standing 5ft 4in, Burnett relied on quick hands, accurate combinations and movement, while his championship fights also demonstrated his ability to work effectively at close quarters.

Raised in north Belfast, Burnett attended St Patrick’s College on the Antrim Road. His early instruction came at Tony Dunlop’s Belfast Kronk gym before he moved to Gerry Storey’s Holy Family Boxing Club. He developed into an accomplished amateur, compiling a reported record of 94 wins and four defeats and collecting seven All-Ireland titles. His outstanding year was 2010. At light flyweight, he won silver at the World Youth Championships in Baku, losing the final to Azerbaijan’s Salman Alizade. Later that year, he reversed the result in Singapore, defeating Alizade 13–6 to win gold at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. A subsequent back injury interrupted his progress before he entered professional boxing.

Burnett signed with Hatton Promotions in 2012 and moved to Manchester to train under Ricky Hatton. His first professional contest took place at Liverpool Olympia on May 24, 2013, when he knocked out Hungary’s Laszlo Nemesapati in the opening round. His early matchmaking consisted principally of short contests against experienced travelling opponents, allowing him to adjust to the professional format. Progress was interrupted by inactivity, however, and his career acquired greater continuity after he joined Adam Booth in 2014. He returned with a first-round victory over Valentin Marinov that November, then advanced through regional competition. A second-round stoppage of Robert Kanalas brought the WBO European bantamweight title in October 2015. The following month, under Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom promotion, he outpointed former champion Jason Booth to win the vacant British championship.

The British title provided a foundation for stronger opposition and appearances on larger bills. Burnett defeated Anthony Settoul over ten rounds on the Carl Frampton versus Scott Quigg programme at Manchester Arena in February 2016. His first world championship opportunity came against Lee Haskins at Belfast’s SSE Arena on June 10, 2017. Haskins was an experienced, awkward southpaw, but Burnett controlled the contest despite suffering a substantial forehead cut from a clash of heads in the second round. He knocked the champion down in the sixth and eleventh and won convincingly over twelve rounds. The announcement initially described a split decision because judge Clark Sammartino had confused the fighters when completing his card. The result was subsequently corrected to a unanimous decision. Burnett had become IBF champion in his seventeenth professional fight.

Four months later, Burnett returned to the SSE Arena for a unification contest with WBA champion Zhanat Zhakiyanov. The Kazakh, trained by Hatton, presented a different problem from Haskins. He advanced persistently, crowded Burnett and forced prolonged exchanges inside. Burnett responded with short combinations and body punches before creating more space and establishing his jab over the closing rounds. His unanimous victory on October 21, 2017, was recorded by scores of 118–110, 119–109 and 116–112. The contest demonstrated the range of his boxing: he could win through movement and timing, but could also withstand sustained physical pressure. Afterwards, pain in his ear and neck required hospital examination, with Booth subsequently reporting a suspected neck ligament injury. Burnett nevertheless completed the year unbeaten and holding two world championship belts.

Burnett relinquished the IBF championship in February 2018 amid competing mandatory obligations, retaining his WBA title. He defended that belt against Venezuela’s Yonfrez Parejo at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on March 31, on the Anthony Joshua versus Joseph Parker bill. Although troubled by a right-hand injury, he won unanimously, with two judges scoring 120–108 and the third 116–112. He then entered the bantamweight World Boxing Super Series and met Nonito Donaire at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro on November 3. During the fourth round, Burnett suffered an injury to his right internal oblique, went down in pain and struggled through the remaining action. Unable to continue, he retired in his corner before the fifth. The result cost him his championship and became the only defeat of his professional career.

After recovery, Burnett signed with Top Rank and returned at Belfast’s Ulster Hall on May 17, 2019, against Filipino southpaw Jelbirt Gomera. Boxing at super bantamweight, he won the vacant WBC International title with a sixth-round stoppage. His combinations and body attack steadily established control, and a left to the body brought the finish shortly after he had lost a point for low blows. It was his twentieth victory and his final professional appearance. On October 25, 2019, aged 27, he announced his retirement because of accumulated injuries. He later explained that he had not fully recovered when he returned against Gomera. His departure therefore followed a winning performance, rather than another defeat, but reflected the continuing physical difficulties that had interrupted his career.

Burnett remained involved in fitness and boxing after retirement. By December 2020, he was running his own gym in Antrim town and had worked with professional fighters including Caoimhin Agyarko and Tyrone McKenna. In an interview that year, he discussed developing the business, spending more time with his wife and family, and considering a greater role in coaching. His competitive record rests principally on his Youth Olympic gold medal, British championship and the successive world title victories over Haskins and Zhakiyanov. Those achievements were secured within a relatively brief professional career whose conclusion was determined by injury.