If the ring is where a boxer comes face to face with his opponent, the changing room is where he struggles with his emotions.
Prior to the fight, usually between one and two hours before, he arrives with his entourage, consisting of his trainer, trainer’s assistant, cut man, and perhaps a friend or two. Unless he’s the main event, he’ll be sharing the changing room with three or four other fighters appearing on the same bill.
Scotland’s Ricky Burns and Mexico’s Ray Beltran are true warriors, honourable men who are a credit to their respective countries and to a sport which throughout its history has regularly made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The draw that was announced at the end of the fight was not only a travesty, it was a crime. Not only was Ray Beltran denied his just deserts for the endless weeks of hard training, sparring, and sacrifice it took to get himself ready, Ricky Burns was forced to endure the embarrassment of standing in the ring with his hand raised in front of 6000 spectators and the millions watching at home, who all knew he’d lost. As a genuinely decent man, this undoubtedly hurt the WBO lightweight champion, adding to the physical trauma of the broken jaw he sustained early in the fight.