IT would seem fitting that Scott Forrest should announce that he was spoiling for a good fight after being invited outside.

More appropriate was that the Springhill boxer kept his hands in his pockets, the offer having been made only in an effort to escape an intrusive alarm during Boxing Scotland's media event ahead of the finals of the national championships.

Those will take place this evening inside Glasgow's Emirates Arena and will include Forrest's bout with Port Glasgow's Grant Quigley in the 81kg category. The promise of a Scottish title and a place on the Commonwealth Games team for the winner will likely make the fight seem much weightier.

There will now seem little more for either fighter to say; boxers learn quickly that it is best to keep their mouths shut when punches are thrown. It will perhaps come as some relief to Forrest given that, by the time his bout gets under way, the 19-year-old will have talked to trainers, promoters the media and the referee. His pursuit of a place at Glasgow this summer has often come up in conversation, with that ambition also having spoken to a truth about the sacrifices required to succeed at amateur level.

An account of his exhausting training regime is considered as banal as a description of the average journey to work - morning sprints, followed later by weights, sparring and conditioning work - and incites only the confirmation that the teenager "lives for it".

It is an enthusiasm which will be matched by each of the other 23 amateur fighters on the bill tonight, not least by Quigley, a fighter with whom Forrest has developed a friendship during numerous trips to compete at events abroad. "He wasn't my weight back then," added Forrest, archly.

The pair will keep their amity at arms length tonight, while allowing their opponent to stray within reach of their fists. That will be seen clearly under the lights of the Emirates Arena, but it was still a curious image as they cheerily chatted together while helping to publicise their meeting at an event held inside Boxing Scotland's gym in Bridgeton.

Forrest is mature enough a fighter to accept that his circle of friends must also be considered opponents in a ring. "I have seen [Quigley] a few times and I have even been to countries with him and I have always got on with him," said Forrest, who won a silver medal at the 2012 AIBA Youth World Championships. "It is a different story now and we have to put our friendship aside. We are both in the ring to do one thing.

"It is all or nothing, because we know what is at risk. This is what we do. I have won the last six finals, so I'm confident I'm going to make it seven in a row. With the Games coming up it is all to play for. If knowing a win can get you in the Commonwealth Games doesn't get you up for it, then I don't know what could inspire you. There is nothing better than fighting the big one in Glasgow."

It is a statement which might be revised tonight once he steps out at the 5000-capacity arena. Forrest is confident that he will not go weak at the knees in front of a Caledonian crowd, having stood up to a partisan support at the World Championships in Kazakhstan last year - "Coming out and getting booed was great when you are there fighting against their man" - while 75kg finalist Aston Brown might also be considered a veteran of major barneys. At least a couple of them are likely to have resulted from his decision to delay his wedding.

The Lochend fighter will take on Kieran Smith, of Springhill, tonight in an effort to further nurture his dream of winning a gold medal in Glasgow. It is an aspiration which has already asked much of him, and also his fiancee Lyndsie.

"When we looked at the dates this was the year that we thought we could do it, but the wedding has been put on hold," said Brown, who will defend his Scottish title against Smith.

"I have been mad busy with tournaments and preparations for something like this take about four or five months of the year. Don't get me wrong, people would swap places with me as I have travelled the world. But you have got to make sacrifices sometimes to make sure you are a success."

The big day is drawing closer for the boxer. His wedding will not be too far behind.