CHARLIE Flynn is picking his battles in the same calm, discerning manner he chooses his shots in the boxing ring.

Wherever he goes, the great Scottish public seems more agitated about his future than he is. Rather than set time-scales and make grand predictions about world- title shots, this 21-year-old Commonwealth gold medallist is chilled out about his progress, happy to leave his development in the capable hands of manager Alex Morrison, trainer Peter Harrison and promoter Eddie Hearn.

Flynn's second professional bout takes place against Nigerian journeyman Ideh Ochuko at the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow on Friday, the Lanarkshire lightweight hoping to continue the good work which saw him comfortably out-point Ibrar Riyaz at the same venue in December. After that, there is a place on a televised bill beneath the likes of Bradley Saunders and Anthony Joshua on Hearn's sold-out Geordie Roar show at Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena in five weeks' time.

As thrilling as that prospect is - at the moment his opponent is TBC, but Flynn is excited about the names being mentioned - this people's champion is happy to play the long game. Much, you could say, like Joshua, the 2012 Olympic super heavyweight champion, who had turned 25 and had eight professional wins by the time he claimed the vacant WBC heavyweight title in October.

"People I meet say 'you're going to have a title shot in three years, I've got £500 quid on you'," Flynn said. "And I say 'save yourself £500 mate, because even if I could do it in three years I wouldn't do it, because there is no point jumping in at the deep end'. People just come out with stuff like that. Everybody believes in you and it is great that they believe in you but at the same time they have got to be sensible. Why take chances? I am only young. I just turned 21 in November so in terms of the pros I am only a baby.

"He is just slightly bigger than me ... but Anthony Joshua is a great example," Flynn added, about the 6ft 6in Londoner. "Everybody wants you to rush. The pros is a different game from the amateurs -people think if you do well there you are automatically going to do well in the pros, but it seriously doesn't work like that. I am suited to the pros but you learn every fight you are in, every time you spar. There are a lot of elbows, a lot of pushing, a lot of endurance, toughness that comes into it. People want to rush you but you just need to keep calm. I have got a manager with a good head on him and a promoter who knows what he is doing."

While his fellow Commonwealth Games team-mate Joe Ham stole some of his thunder with a first-round knock-out of Georgia's David Kvaratskhelia, Morrison hailed Flynn's debut as one of the most impressive he has seen and more can be expected on Friday night. Having finally given up his day job at the Royal Mail, Flynn can now devote himself full time to his craft, training three times a day, six days a week, doing one set of disciplines Monday-Wednesday-Friday and another Tuesday-Thursday- Saturday. There are regular gallops up the "big grassy hill" in Airdrie, while he has largely stuck to the same diet, heavy on proteins and vegetables, which served him well during his days in the amateur ranks.

"It is hard graft, my man," he said. "But when I was working it was work, training, work, training non-stop, so this is easier in a way. Now between sessions you can chill out a bit.

"I kind of just plod through my training, I am not dead energetic or anything. I am super laid back. I don't particularly like it, I just know it has to be done. It is nose to the grindstone and get on with it. However, I can over-train sometimes, because I've got that mind set where I want to keep going and going."

Ochuko, a 34-year-old with six wins and 12 losses, has never been stopped. He has also beaten Riyaz and gone the distance with Scotty Cardle. But Flynn is happy just to get the rounds in, knowing the longer contests will play to his strengths once his muscle tone develops.

"I've seen this boy box, and he is a bit more slick," said Flynn, who is also being lined up for a show at Glasgow's Emirates Arena in May. "He can throw some heavy shots. But at the end of the day I will just box, that it is what I do. Once I start getting longer contests in, that is when I will start stopping people. The longer a fight is the better it is for me and the worse it is for my opponent. As the fighters get better and the fights get longer, that is when I will get better.

"I wear people down, I grind them down. Four rounds isn't a lot, I can do a lot of rounds. And it is good experience for me getting the rounds in just now. I don't want to go out there throwing heavy shots, I just want to box and get the four rounds under my belt. I am quite happy with that and I am quite happy to continue like that until better opponents come. Then it will just come naturally."

Once again on Friday, Flynn will share a bill with Ham and Stuart Burt, part of an encouraging, emerging Scottish fight scene under the watchful eye of Morrison. "We don't really see each other a lot, but we all kind of know we are all grinding away in the background," said Flynn. "We've been everywhere together, we've done the amateurs together, now we are all moving forward in the pros together. It is a good feel, a good buzz. It is as if it is a family."

*Tickets available from Morrison Promotions, on 0141 554 7777