
The Champ Returns: Ryan Burnett on The Rocky Road
From The Rocky Road by News Ireland
May 6, 2026 · 28 min · Season 7 · Episode 18
About this episode
Ryan Burnett shares his journey of running the Belfast Marathon in honor of his late mentor Ricky Hatton while raising funds for mental health.
Since hanging up the gloves, unified world champion Ryan Burnett hasn’t been looking for a quiet life. Whether it’s pushing supercars to the limit or tearing up tracks on motorbikes, he’s a man who still lives life on the edge. Now a boxing trainer in his own right, his latest challenge was perhaps his most personal and gruelling yet: pushing 63.5kg - the fighting weight of his late mentor Ricky Hatton - through the 26.2 miles of the Belfast Marathon. It was a journey that almost ended before it began after Ryan slipped a disc during his training camp, and the race itself proved just as unforgiving. Flanked by boxing royalty like Andy Lee and Carl Frampton, Ryan suffered at stages but found the mental iron to power through. If you didn’t already think he was something of a lunatic, wait until how you hear he got through the last two miles. This was Ryan’s personal farewell to Ricky and a mission to raise vital funds for mental health. Read more and support the cause here…
People in this episode
Host: News Ireland
Guest: Ryan Burnett
Topics covered
- boxing
- marathon
- mental health
- training
- personal journey
Keywords
- Ryan Burnett
- Ricky Hatton
- Belfast Marathon
- mental health
- boxing training
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