In the semi-final of the games, which took place in Singapore, Burnett defeated Zohidion Hoorboyev of Uzbekistan. In the final, Burnett once again met Salman Alizade, who he had lost to in the World Championships. Alizada went into the fight as the world number one, but Burnett avenged his previous loss with a dominant 13–6 victory. Burnett turned professional in January 2012, after signing a deal with Hatton Promotions. He then moved to Manchester, England where he would be trained by company founder – former world champion Ricky Hatton. With Hatton Promotions enduring turbulent times, Burnett was forced to leave their stable in September 2014. After what had been a long spell out of competition, he joined up with Adam Booth in London to kick-start his pro career. In November 2015, Burnett received a shot at the vacant British bantamweight title against former holder, Jason Booth. Despite managing a first round knockdown over the veteran Brit, Burnett was taken the distance and won the fight via unanimousdecision. In January 2016, it was announced that Burnett would fight on the undercard of fellow Belfast boxer, Carl Frampton, in his world title unification bout with Scott Quigg at the Manchester Arena on 27 February 2016. Burnett faced Frenchman, Anthony Settoul, for the WBC International bantamweight title. Burnett produced a highly praised performance, and won the fight through another unanimous decision. On 27 April 2017, it was announced that Burnett would challenge Lee Haskins for the IBF bantamweight title on 10 June at the SSE Arena in Belfast, live on Sky Sports. The fight would mark Haskins' third defence since winning the title in 2015. Speaking on his first world title challenge, Burnett said, "I always dreamed of headlining in Belfast and now I have the opportunity to do it for a World Title – I’m so excited." Burnett defeated Haskins via a 12-round split decision to win his first world title and become Northern Ireland's first world bantamweight champion on 20 years. Burnett dropped Haskins twice in the fight in knocking him down once in round 6 and again in round 11. Both fighters were cut from a clash of heads in the round 2. The final judges’ scores were 119-107, 119-107 for Burnett and 118-108 for Haskins. The result was later changed to a unanimous decision as judge Clark Sammartino who scored the fight for Haskins put the wrong name in the box.