Cornish fight has enough sub-plots to be big Box Office on screen as well as in the ring

This is about much more than just the career trajectory of a man-mountain from Inverness, who gave up a footballing career with Brora Rangers to devote himself to the sweet science, though.

Journeys come in different forms and many are being travelled over the course of this evolving story. For Gilmour, steeped in the game man and boy, comes the possibility of creating an extra little bit of history in the latter stages of a career heading ever closer to its half-century.

Scottish boxing has never boasted a credible contender in the highest weight divisions with Gilmour's greatest successes coming with the likes of Paul Weir and Pat Clinton in the mini-fly and flyweight categories.

That Cornish should even be fighting for the vacant IBO International title, however significant the belt itself may be regarded, against Zoltan Csala of Hungary at the Bellahouston Leisure Centre on Saturday is quite something. Gilmour, his manager, sees it as a springboard towards competing for an intercontinental crown and earning the right to be termed a contender for a world title bout within the next year or so.

The most dramatic journey of all, though, is that of Kellie Maloney, on board as co-promoter and preparing for her first big night back on the scene since walking away from boxing, disillusioned and unhappy, in 2013 and embarking upon the process of gender reassignment.

Maloney, 61, has detailed in the past how she attempted suicide following the breakdown of her second marriage. She has described the agony of living as a man trapped inside a woman's body, the time spent abroad in which a certain anonymity engendered a sense of freedom and possibility.

Just this week, two of her three daughters, Sophie and Libby, told a magazine how they have grown to prefer Kellie to Frank. Kellie, herself, insists she is "a nicer person and a better person" than Frank was.

You suspect Gilmour agrees, but he still sees the old glint of mischief in Maloney's eye and knows this link-up is likely to pay dividends for Cornish by creating added interest and opening up access to the sharp business brain, the mind of a born hustler, that helped drive Lennox Lewis to the very top of the sport.

"Frank was Mr Angry," recalls Gilmour. "He would fight with his shadow. He was a carnaptious little so-and-so.

"I always had good business with him and liked him, but you would get to a stage where you had no option but to tell him to f*** off because he would argue about arguing.

"You can see a difference now with Kellie. Maybe back then, she was hustling and making her business, but she can relax now. She doesn't need this to live and getting involved with the likes of Gary has really rekindled her interest in the sport itself.

"Things that would have caused Frank Maloney to really kick off in the past, Kellie accepts. She has restructured her life and seems much more controlled and happier.

"There is a certain devilment still there, mind you. You would not want to lose that part of Maloney. We crossed swords a lot in the past, but I am not a judgmental person and it is not for me to say what is right and wrong.

"Sure, Kellie knows people are looking at her, possibly laughing at her, but she has made a huge change in her life. She laughs about it herself, though. We had a huge press conference in London recently and a lot of people turned up. Kellie said herself that she knew they were there to look at her and because of her story. It is a chosen lifestyle for her. When we get past the initial small-talk, though, and get down to boxing, you can just see Frank's brain.

"As she says herself, it is her sex that has changed and not her brain. You must give her the ultimate respect and the one thing you cannot take away from her is that she was as knowledgeable as anyone about heavyweight fighters."

Maloney, who also led Scotland's Scott Harrison to the WBO world featherweight title, had promoted Cornish in the past. When she called Gilmour to investigate the possibility of re-establishing old allegiances, the offer of a lucrative sponsorship deal with Tommy Pratt of London-based Southwark Metals, who had invested heavily in the Welsh boxer David Price, was proof she meant business.

The transgender promoter with the unfancied 6ft 7in heavyweight from the Highlands does, it has to be said, sound like something from a film script.

"It is the greatest happening since 'Geordie'," proclaims Gilmour. "That was a black-and-white film from the 1950s about a guy from the Highlands who was training to be a hammer-thrower and everyone in all the villages got behind him as he went to compete in the Melbourne Olympics.

"Caley Thistle will be competing in football's cup final the week after Gary's fight and we hope it will be a golden time in sporting terms for Inverness and the surrounding area.

"I have been fortunate enough to create a number of bits of history for Scottish boxing, but the nearest any Scot has got to fighting for a British heavyweight title was when Freddie Mills knocked out my dad's boxer, Ken Shaw, in 1948.

"We now have Gary fighting for a bona- fide title. The apprenticeship is over and we are now on The Journey proper."

How far it goes is anyone's guess. The heavyweight division is an unpredictable arena in which unlikely things can happen. Cornish boasts a professional record of 20 straight wins with 11 knock-outs, but Gilmour is reluctant to set parameters.

"People will ask how good Gary really is," says Gilmour. "In all honesty, I don't know. All I can say is that he won all nine of his amateur fights and has won 20 pro fights, so he can't be bad. He has sparred with Tyson Fury, David Price and Dereck Chisora and can hold his own in there."

It is his unbeaten record, of course, that remains key to manoeuvring the 28-year-old, now in his fifth year as a pro, into position for a contest and a pay-day that could really change his life.

"The value of heavyweights is based on the 'zero'," says Gilmour. "That excites fans and television stations."

The particular sub-plots of this most novel tale make for great Box Office too. Television is sure to take notice, but this is a journey that really does have all the ingredients required to finish up on the silver screen.