Ross Murray admits himself that he left it late to turn professional. The Castlemilk fighter was 34 before he joined the pro ranks but his progress has been quicker than he could ever have imagined. Now 35, Murray has had six fights, from which he is unbeaten, and this evening, in his seventh bout, he will fight for the WBO European flyweight title.

He takes on Englishman Sunny Edwards in London this evening and with Edwards also unbeaten after five pro fights, as well as being 14 years Murray’s junior, and the Scot acknowledges that this is likely to be his toughest test to date.

However, he is feeling in confident mood. “I’m feeling excellent- things have been going well in terms of training,” he said. “I don’t know too much about him but I know he had a good amateur career and so he’s obviously a decent operator.”

Murray began his sporting life as a footballer but was plagued by knee injuries, forcing to hang up his boots and turn his attention to boxing, which he’d dabbled in during his footballing career. However, as an amateur flyweight, his competitive opportunities were limited leaving him on the verge of quitting the sport entirely.

But a few persuasive words from his coach convinced him to turn professional and Murray hasn’t looked back. “The pro game has actually been going really well - better than I expected to be honest,” he said. “Going into it, I knew that because of the weight I am fighting at, things could move fast but I went into it with no expectations.

“I hoped I might get the opportunity to fight for a Scottish title or something but I don’t think I expected it to go quite as well as this.”

With the vast majority of his opponents considerably younger than Murray, that could be seen as a disadvantage but he instead views his more advanced years as a positive. He combines his boxing career with a full-time job in the building industry but the sacrifices he must make to his social and family life as a result of his hectic schedule only makes him want success even more. “Often in boxing, guys want to have had 15 or 25 before they get to this stage – they want to build up a winning record and don’t want to fight anyone who they might lose to but right from the start, I knew that I had a short window of time and so I wanted pushed,” he said.

“For me, because of my job, this is never going to be something I can concentrate fully on so I go in with the attitude of whoever wants to fight me I will fight them I will never back away from a fight. Whether I win, lose, or draw, I am going to enjoy it.

"I have thought about whether I should have turned pro earlier – if I had done it earlier I might have had a better shot of doing something but at the same time, I’m a great believer in everything happens for a reason and I can’t exactly complain about how things have gone. I think with age and maturity comes that appreciation of what’s happening. So for me, I’ll just take it one fight at a time and to get an opportunity like this is more than I ever thought I would.”

Murray may be taking Edwards on in his back yard but he remains unfazed and is optimistic that he could be bringing the European belt back to Scotland this week. “I’m confident – you have to have that mindset that you’re going to win,” he said. “It’s in his hometown, he is the young fighter and the future of this division so the odds are stacked towards him but I’ve not made the sacrifices I have to go down there to lose.

“This is definitely a platform for me – it’s on television so if you put on a good show you might catch attention of some other people. I want to do as much as I can in the short period I have in the sport so this is a great opportunity for me.”