IT is the box office bout between the heavyweights of Scottish football. It is the rematch that could help our game get off the ropes and come out swinging once again.

And Barry Hearn hopes the return of the Old Firm showpiece will be the inspiration to the power brokers and not an excuse to down tools in the rebuilding job at Hampden and across the country.

The Matchroom Sports chief addressed the Scottish FA Convention two years ago and delivered a knock-out blow to those in the corridors of power.

At that time, the SPFL was without a sponsor for all four leagues and Rangers were embroiled in a boardroom battle and toiling in the Championship.

Now, the Ibrox side are back in the top flight and there is an excitement about our game once again. On Saturday, the Old Firm will do battle on league duty for the first time in four seasons.

Hearn knows it is a boost to the image of our game to have the fixture back on the calendar, but the sports promotion virtuoso insists it shouldn’t be seen as the cure to Scotland’s ills.

“There are two ways of looking at it,” he told SportTimes.

“The first is that it is fantastic news for Scottish football that Rangers are there and the Old Firm derby is back. That is a massive game.

“The only sad part, for me, is that you have to be so careful about those matches dwarfing everyone else so that they feel they are not part of the same group because of the supporter base.

“You mustn’t take your eye off the ball, if you like, of the overall job that has got to be done with Scottish football.

“In a utopian world, Dunfermline, Aberdeen, whoever, are all as big as Rangers and Celtic. That is not going to happen but it shouldn’t stop you trying to make it happen.

“It is great news for Scottish football and it will improve various sponsorship and TV deals because of the certainty of those games happening, and that is obviously a shot in the arm for Scottish football.

“But it mustn’t be an excuse and you forget about the bigger picture, which is the promotion of football in Scotland.”

Hearn may be looking on from afar but the 68-year-old was at the centre of a storm when he made the trip to Hampden and ruffled a few feathers.

He unleashed a barrage of jabs that left those running our game on their knees, his one-liners and stinging criticisms striking a chord with punters across the country.

Progress has been made since, but the work is far from finished as clubs look to close the gap to the Old Firm and Rangers and Celtic attempt to get closer to Europe’s elite.

Hearn said: “I went up there to give an honest appraisal of what I saw without fear or favour.

“It got a reaction because I think most of it was common sense and stuff that journalists had been saying for years.

“I don’t think I have ever done anything where I have had such a reaction to an hour chat.

“I have been watching and I am pleased they have closed some commercial deals.

“It is a lot of work and inevitably it comes back to ‘we haven’t got the money to do it’. There is a much bigger picture there.”

After four seasons apart, Rangers and Celtic will fight for the Premiership crown once again in the coming months and their head-to-heads will be crucial in determining the destination of the silverware.

The Gers have made a mixed start to the new campaign and travel to Parkhead determined to avoid falling four points behind Brendan Rodgers’ side.

The Hoops boss will be one of a host of high profile derby debutants this weekend and Hearn reckons the Old Firm encounter is still big business outside the Glasgow goldfish bowl.

“I think because of the absence of the Rangers recently there is probably more interest in it than before at this stage,” he said.

“At the match on Saturday and on Sky, you will see promos for the Brook v Golovkin fight on pay-per-view on Saturday night. The same will happen at Manchester City v Manchester United.

“We don’t bother to run extensive promos of a boxing match like that unless it is worthy.

“When we picked the date for the fight, we looked at the football calendar and we saw Manchester City v Manchester United and thought ‘happy days’ and we also saw Celtic v Rangers.

“We viewed it as a promotional tool in the same light and that is a compliment to the size of that match.”

After two cup clashes that whetted the appetite, there are four Old Firm league fixtures on the menu once again this term.

In Scotland, the games will dominate the agenda each time they come around and headlines, on the front and back pages, are guaranteed.

Parkhead will be sold out, millions will watch on television and the stage is set for an all-action, enthralling and controversial encounter.

But Hearn insists the Old Firm showpiece shouldn’t overshadow Scottish football as he urges the rest of our game to strive for success on and off the park.

He said: “The world of sport is changing and bigger events are getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

“Whether it is Wimbledon, The Open, the World Darts Championship, the World Snooker Championship, those events are selling at premium prices quicker than ever before.

“The average sports fan is quite selective in terms of getting his backside off a seat and going to watch.

“The danger of those high profile matches – and Celtic and Rangers are right up there – is that you develop a sort of feeling of ‘hmm, this one is not so big’.

“When you watch a match, it could be the best game in the world, but if you see empty seats your perception is that it is not a big game.

“That is the danger if they watch Rangers against Celtic and then the next week watch Falkirk. In their mind, they have devalued the brand of football whilst appreciating the superstar quality of Celtic and Rangers.

“It is a big plus but it is a short term plus. In the past, Scottish football has been too reliant on the fact that you have got the Old Firm derby. It has given people an excuse to take their eye off the ball.

“Rangers fans follow Rangers and that is good for everybody in that league and away gates will be up, as when Celtic fans follow Celtic.

“But there is a job to done in terms of making the medium sized clubs, and I am not being disrespectful there, compete on a level playing field but also on a perception level that they are worthy. That is a big issue.”