Up and coming Scottish boxer Kieran Smith is out to prove he has learned from his Commonwealth Games nightmare – where he admits he wanted to KILL his opponent.

Smith was a huge medal hope two years ago in his homeland, but the expectancy of a massive crowd affected him as he went down to England’s Anthony Fowler in the quarter-finals.

He concedes that his game-plan went out of the window the minute he heard the roars of the partisan home crowd, as he abandoned his game-plan and slugged it out with the hard-hitting Englishman.

Now a little older and wiser, the 22-year-old will continue his march towards his aim of breaking into the UK top ten by the end of the year with a fight against Belfast’s Casey Blair at Bellahouston Sports Centre tomorrow night.

There is little chance he will repeat the mistakes of the past against the Northern Irishman.

“The Commonwealth Games was my biggest learning curve in boxing,” he said.

“I had never really experienced pressure until then. I was going from around 200 watching my fights to 5000 in that stadium, and I think the crowd got to me a wee bit.

“The whole Scotland-England thing got to me too. I had a great game-plan, I’d worked for weeks on end with my coaches and my dad on how to beat Anthony Fowler, and I went in and it just all went out my head.

“I basically just stood in front of him to fight him. It was the complete opposite of the game-plan we had.

“When I came out my dad was just disappointed because of how hard we had worked, and I had just thrown everything out of the window.

“It was purely down to pressure, but it’s only made me better.

“It wasn’t like my mind went blank, I just wanted to kill him! I just wanted to be in his face.

“It’s not even the way I box and it never has been.

“I’m glad that I’ve felt that now though, and I’m glad that I had that experience. Maybe some other fighters that I’ll come up against at this level won’t have that experience, so I’ll have the upper hand.”

Smith is managed by veteran Scot Willie Limond, and he says that guidance from one of the country’s top boxers has been invaluable as he climbs the professional ranks.

“I speak to Willie a lot before fights about all different things, and he’s helped me out, especially in making the transition to the pros,” he said.

“It’s been great. A lot of managers and promoters aren’t as hands-on as Willie and I think it’s good.

“He’s always up at the gym watching me sparring and he likes me to keep him updated on how I am feeling.

"We’re quite close. I trust him because he’s been there and done it.

“I would love to achieve what Willie did, I always keep my eye on the top and I believe that one day I will win a world title. Definitely.”

Limond has spoken of having one problem in managing the young fighter – getting him to take a rest.

Smith is hoping that his dedication will stand him in good stead though as he looks to make it to the top.

He said: “I’m not a great believer in the old Ricky Hatton method!

“All of those guys who think if you are a professional fighter and a world champion you should go out and eat and drink for two weeks, that’s not for me.

“You’ve got to keep your head down, keep your nose clean and keep working hard.”