Burns Calls Out Cook and Mitchell

Scotsman Ricky Burns says he wants East End rivals Nicky Cook and Kevin Mitchell ringside on Friday night at York Hall- if they are brave enough to turn up. Burns, 25, challenges tough Ghanaian Osumana Akaba for the vacant Commonwealth title at the home of boxing in front of the Sky television cameras. And he has his sights firmly set on newly crowned WBO World Super-Featherweight king Cook and British champion Mitchell. "I want Cook to be there so I can call him out after I've beaten Akaba," said Burns. "He said he wants a mandatory defence of his belt, and I'm more than happy to fight any time, anywhere, and I'll tell him that in front of his own fans ringside on Friday night. "Cook might have beaten one Scottish fighter in Alex Arthur to win the world title, but he won't be so lucky second time around." Burns, who lost on points to Arthur in a European, Commonwealth and British title challenge when he was an inexperienced youngster, also wants Mitchell to make the journey to York Hall. "I want to be made mandatory challenger to Mitchell's British title, but I'm not sure he fancies fighting me," said Burns. "I've been waiting for that fight for ages, but I think Mitchell's looking for a couple of soft touches before facing a real threat to his title like me. "I want him ringside on Saturday, but I'm also worried that I might scare him off because I've improved so much in the last 12 months. "If he was worried about fighting me before Friday, he'll be even more concerned after he sees my performance against Akaba." Unbeaten in his last eight fights, Burns has a 23-2 record, and says that he is a far more aggressive fighter under new trainer Billy Nelson. "People are going to see me coming forward a lot more and boxing off the front foot," said Burns. "My power has improved dramatically since I started working with Billy and I'll be aiming for a knockout on Friday night. "I've fought at York Hall twice before and won by knockout both times, so I'll be looking to make it a hat-trick on Friday."