WILLIE Limond believes Commonwealth Games gold medallist Charlie Flynn will never have a better time to turn professional.

The 20 year-old revealed in Sunday Herald sport last weekend that he faced a dilemma over whether to retain his amateur status and bid for Olympic glory in Rio 2016 or use his recent golden moment to secure a lucrative entry into boxing's paid ranks.

Limond, the British and Commonwealth champion, was in a similar position in the late 1990s, finally choosing a bronze medal at the European Amateur championships as the perfect launch pad into the pros.

Now the Glaswegian, who regularly spars with Flynn at the Glasgow Phoenix gym where both are trained by Peter Harrison, thinks the Motherwell boxer should follow his lead.

"Charlie has a huge decision ahead of him and it reminds me of when I had a similar call to make before I turned pro in 1999," said Limond. "Charlie will know that with a Commonwealth Games gold medal around his neck he is in an exceptionally strong bargaining position. He is 20 now and has a great level of experience behind him in the amateurs but he has another two years to go before the Olympics, and that is something at a whole new level.

"What Charlie and the people around him need to ask is: will it get any better for Charlie in the amateurs or is this the right time to cash in on his gold-medal status and use that to negotiate the best deal they can for him into the pros?

"Charlie is a postman and I was a trainee joiner back in the amateurs. Nowadays it is very tough to have a career outside the ring as an amateur when you are facing guys that are full-time funded and can just focus on their boxing. But Charlie knows all that, he is a level-headed boy and I'm sure he will make the right call.

"Ultimately I decided to turn pro with Alex Morrison and I feel like I made the right call and made it at the right time."

Morrison has just snapped up Flynn's Team Scotland team-mate Joe Ham on a paid contract and the doyen of the Scottish professional game, who continues to manage Limond, is known to be monitoring Flynn's deliberations.

Limond is confident that Flynn is good enough to turn professional now.

"Since he came through the doors here [at the Phoenix gym] as a teenager we have sparred plenty of rounds together," he said. "I think Charlie has the perfect style for the professional game. Technically he is a good boxer who can box either on the front or the back foot. He can also mix it inside where he has a decent hook.

"The other great thing for Charlie is that he already has the perfect trainer in Peter Harrison to help him with the transition. When you look at how Peter guided Scott [Harrison] right through the amateurs and then into the professionals to the British, Commonwealth and World titles, then Charlie couldn't be in better hands."

When it comes to the next move in his own career, Limond admits that his hopes of a European title challenge will probably have to be shelved as he gets ready to face Englishman Tyrone Nurse in a mandatory defence of his British title.

"The timing just doesn't quite work for me to challenge Michele di Rocco for his European title. He has a defence to make in September against a Spaniard and I've got to face Nurse in October. He is an awkward fighter who can counter you very effectively, so it will be a tough fight and my game plan will have to be spot on."