Boxer Craig Kelly may have been a late arrival on Scotland’s boxing scene, but he is hell-bent on making up for lost time.

Coming hot on the heels of a brutal victory over fellow Scot Ally Black at Bellahouston in March – a fight that his promoter Willie Limond reckons was one of the best of the year – the 33-year-old will take on the promising Stefan Sanderson at Glasgow’s Marriot Hotel tonight.

The short gap between bouts doesn’t bother Kelly though, who has excelled under the expert guidance of trainer Peter Harrison at the Glasgow Phoenix gym.

That education has honed Kelly into a tough but technically astute fighter, and he feels he is more than ready to take the next step along the path to a Scottish - or even British - title.

“I started when I was 28 and I’m almost 34 now, so all of my opponents have been brought up in boxing and schooled throughout the amateur ranks, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.

“I’ve done well for a guy that was told he had two left feet. I’ve won two belts, and although they haven’t been the big prestigious belts, to me it’s been brilliant considering where I came from.

“Peter said I was the most improved boxer in the country, but he was also the one that told me I had two left feet! He couldn’t believe that I had two professional fights when he saw me, never mind amateur fights, so he got me in front of a mirror for six months just to get my feet right, and I’ve just got better from there.

“He’s the best in the business, so I couldn’t have asked for a better education.

“With a lot of trainers they are into a lot of new stuff, but they call me ‘old school’ Kelly, so I like to follow the diet, training, everything just the way the old guys done it.

“That’s how it should be done, not all this nonsense about super diets and draining weights. They were real tough guys back in the day, they knew what it was about, and that’s what we try to replicate at Glasgow Phoenix.

“It’s funny, they say my style is ‘Scotsican’ because I’m like a Mexican with the way I fight, it’s move me or be moved.

“I can box as well though, and I think everyone will see that on Saturday night.”

To say Kelly’s journey to the ring has been unconventional is to rather downplay the uniqueness of the path he has trodden.

A former pro-youth footballer with Rangers and Albion Rovers, Kelly feels that his unusual tutelage gives him an edge on his rivals.

“I was a goalkeeper but I could play outfield too,” he said. “I’m 5’ 9’’ so from the age of 14 I never really got much taller. I love football, but I wish I had done this a bit earlier.

“But I wouldn’t change it because of the success I’m having just now. My brothers were always better than me and I always knew that, but my Dad had one car so I had to go where they were going.

“It’s easy money compared to the boxing. It’s hard to earn your money in boxing, whereas in football they get easy money for rolling about like fairies.

“I’d have rather have been boxing from the age of 12, but you live and learn and you can’t go back.

“It helps me against the younger boys because a lot of them are tippy-tappy boxers that are looking for the perfect punch, whereas when I get close enough to hit you I’ll hit you.

“Sometimes in a lot of gyms now the focus is on touch sparring and more shot-picking than an out-an-out slugfest, so a lot of them don’t train like that.

“If you haven’t trained like that then it takes a lot out of you when you’re faced with it, so it’s a benefit.”

*There are limited tickets still available for tonight's Lock Stock Promotions event at the Glasgow Marriot Hotel. Contact Willie Limond on 07516450791 for further info.