Jeff J Mitchell - Getty Images
Would you attack a guy who looked like this? Apparently thugs in Coatbridge think they could take Ricky down. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
In an extremely strange story out of Scotland, Ricky Burns was ambushed during a morning run. According to Jennifer Hyland of The Scottish Sun, Ricky Burns was out running when a group of thugs started to insult Ricky. The situation escalated and the thugs threw stuff at Ricky Burns. Instead of trying to confront the thugs, Ricky decided to turn the other cheek and simply run away. Apparently the thugs then chased Ricky Burns for a while.
"Out jogging and a group decide to shout abuse at you, chuck stuff and chase you. You phone the police and report it and they just drive by 10 minutes later. It's a joke. What's Coatbridge coming to?"
The police spokesman didn't do much to allay the fears of Ricky Burns or simply anyone in that area.
"We received a complaint about youths harassing a man. Officers attended, but no further action was taken."
It doesn't seem that Ricky Burns was injured at all during the incident and it isn't going to affect his training for an upcoming fight. It seems like Ricky Burns is in a dangerous area and he simply needs to move to another area to avoid the violence. Burns's mother commented that they need to move to the countryside, so hopefully we don't see another Pavlik situation where a fighter knowingly puts himself in a bad situation. Burns, however, needs to be commended for not trying to fight the thugs even though he is a professional fighter. I would assume that Burns could give a couple of those guys a good beating, but he did the right thing and tried to avoid confrontation. This result is a bit refreshing when compared to some other boxers who seem to gravitate toward violence. Good for Ricky Burns, hopefully this gives him a couple more fans.
0 recs | 23 comments
Those kids must have shitted bricks when they found who they were messing with, unless they knew….. then they have a death wish. I have no doubt in my mind that he could take them all out single handedly. But ups to him for keeping his composure.
s2krazyyy - January 4, 2012
Good on you Ricky! It would have been so easy just to punch one of them, but he never. Nice to hear the local bizzies are as bad as round here too. Maybe he should have punched someone, they’d have shown up then ;-)
Phill - January 4, 2012 via mobile
Good for Burns, keeping his composure. Hope he can move to a safer area, but we can’t always live where we want. It’s no joke finding affordable housing in safe areas. The police response was abysmal, but not very different from around here.
BoxAnne - January 4, 2012
First thing I thought was Vernon Forrest. Burns made the wise decision.
tacklerford - January 4, 2012
This is what I wanted to comment. He made a rather brave and wise decision. I mean brave because I suspect some people will give him grief about running away, but a guy who gets punched for a living doesn’t need to prove his valor to anyone really. Good for him, good choice and I hope he can move to a better area.
Apprentice - January 4, 2012
David Rodriguez got slashed on New Years' as well
I’m not sure what would inspire anyone to jump someone who’s 6’4", 240, but evidently six guys jumped him outside a restaurant on New Years Eve and he had to get 200+ stitches.
Brickhaus - January 4, 2012
I don’t care how good a boxer you are, if you’re fighting a group, someone’s gonna get in a lucky shot, or the weight of numbers is going to drag you down to the ground, and things aren’t going to go well from there. Smart move by Burns getting out of there.
Verklemptomaniac - January 4, 2012
How about out of Scotland? :)
Apolgies in advance for any offence I may have caused
Sweet science - January 4, 2012
There is no area without violence, including very high-end gated communities. You can run, but you can’t hide.
BoxAnne - January 4, 2012
It was a vey tounge in cheek comment :)
Sweet science - January 4, 2012
+1
Very nice! “The problem with Scotland… is that it’s full of SCOTS!” ~Braveheart… hahaha
cylee1180 - January 4, 2012
ha
Sweet science - January 4, 2012
No, cylee--
you
and the movie have Scotland mixed up with France and the French!
Don From Prov - January 5, 2012
buahahaha
cylee1180 - January 5, 2012
I’ve always been a big fan of Ricky’s but I definitely like the fact that he just ran the other way. Although, I would have probably been tempted to just beat the piss out of them after they chased me.
I can relate though, I live in a similar area although not in Scotland and I’ve also been annoyed by hooligans while training even If i haven’t been chased.
MattyEdgeworth - January 4, 2012
Hello to you.
BoxAnne - January 4, 2012
Hell sir
MattyEdgeworth - January 4, 2012
You said to boxANNE
Sir? :)
Newbie mistake :D
Sweet science - January 4, 2012
Just the way I talk haha ;)
MattyEdgeworth - January 4, 2012
there’s a lot of knife violence in the UK. keeping running was a good idea. alex gong got shot by a guy who jacked his car. the list is longer than that.
theworldsoldestsport - January 4, 2012
I nearly got stabbed the other day just for bumping into the guy. The guy started pulling a knife out of his pocket and asking me if I had a problem. I had tried to let him past but he had deliberately bumped into me just so he could try and start something.
I probably could have beat him up if I hit him before he stabbed me because I have boxing experience but It’s not worth getting riled up about. I just said I had no problem and went on my way
MattyEdgeworth - January 4, 2012
He made me a fan. BTW- Anyone been keeping up … a few MMA pple have been stopping robberies… which is cool… LHW champion Jon Jones actually ran down a pick pocket and held him down before authorities got to him… but yeah, good job Ricky Burns. I’m honestly a fan now.
cylee1180 - January 4, 2012
Warren will probably get one of the thugs ranked by the WBO for his next weak ass title defence.
Shitali Klitschko - January 4, 2012 via mobile
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