Glasgow boxer Kieran Smith says that his dedication to the sport will lead him to the very top of boxing, after he maintained his unbeaten record with a comprehensive victory over Bradley Pryce on Saturday night.

Smith was taken the distance by the hardy Pryce, but his class was evident throughout the contest as he outscored his opponent in every one of the eight rounds at the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley.

The 24-year-old will be back in the gym today though, drawing inspiration from the professionalism of Scottish boxing hero Alex Arthur. By following Arthur’s example, Smith hopes that he too can one day fight for British, European and even world titles.

“I don’t think you’ll find a boxer who works harder than me, outside of camp as well as inside camp,” Smith said.

“Most guys will work really hard when they are in camp, but I live my whole life like that. That’s the lifestyle you need to have if you have an ambition to reach the very top.

“I’ll be back in the gym on Monday to keep myself ticking over, analyse the fight and try to learn from any mistakes that I made.

“I don’t want to put anybody else under the spotlight and say they aren’t living their lives the correct way or anything like that, but a great example for me is Alex Arthur.

“It was his whole life. He was a great professional, and even look at him now. He might not be doing the boxing training or anything like that, but he still dedicates a lot of his time to the gym and that shows that it is just part of his life now.

“That way of life just became the lifestyle that he leads, and he’s a great example to any young Scottish fighter of how to approach their boxing career.

“I’m sure that’s me in the top 10 in the British rankings, so I’m aiming at title eliminators and thinking maybe that I could get a title fight around September depending on the opponent and things that are out of my hands.

“I’m definitely ready for it though, I’m 24 now and starting to mature, and I think in the next couple of years you’ll be seeing me in British title fights, as well as European titles and even on the world stage.”

Smith made headlines last October with a brutal 18-second stoppage of Robert Asagba on the undercard of Ricky Burns’s fight with Kyril Relikh.

Saturday night’s scrap was certainly not as straightforward, but Smith feels the experience he gained in his tenth professional bout could be crucial.

“It was a bit longer this time, but that was part of the plan,” he said. “I wanted to get rounds under my belt.

“I’m not a novice professional anymore, I’ve had 10 fights and I’ve not had a lot of rounds, so I wanted to get them in and I knew that I would get that from him.

“It was great to be able to show people that there is more to me than just that explosive power. I can be that classy boxer instead of just going in and matching guys for power.

“I can also do that, but that wasn’t the plan tonight. I wanted to get rounds and I wanted to box at long range, and that’s what I got.

“My greater class told in the end, and it was certainly a worthwhile exercise for me.”