FORMER world featherweight champion Scott Harrison is set to return to the boxing ring on August 15 following an absence of nearly two-and-a-half years.
Harrison will launch yet another comeback against an as-yet-unnamed opponent at Paisley's Lagoon Leisure Centre just four days before his 38th birthday.
He last fought in April 2013, losing on points to Englishman Liam Walsh for the vacant WBO European lightweight title at Wembley Arena.
Harrison's licence was subsequently suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control when he was served with an extradition notice relating to a four-year jail term imposed by the Spanish authorities after he was found guilty of assault following an incident in 2007.
That suspension remains in force, but Harrison paved the way for his return when he was licensed to fight by the Maltese Boxing Commission earlier this month.
Harrison, who had the last of his 11 world title bouts in November 2005, when he out-pointed Australian Nedal Hussein at Braehead Arena, is still awaiting the outcome of his appeal against extradition.
But despite the threat of another jail term hanging over him, Harrison is clear to box in this country under the European Union's free trade and anti-monopoly laws.
He said yesterday: "It feels amazing, almost surreal to have my license back. There have been a lot of dark times and there were moments when I wondered if it would ever happen.
"There were even a few occasions when I said to myself that they just weren't going to let me back in, but even during the worst of times I was determined to keep going until I don't know when.
"That is because I have got a winner's mentality. Just because I was suspended for two years, that doesn't mean I wasn't in the gym every day, thinking about winning titles.
"I'm coming back nearly 10 years after I was a world champion and that's the thing: I want to win another world title. I have won two already and I have never stopped being a winner in my head. That mentality is the reason I have been successful and I know that I still have a lot of offer boxing."
Harrison has fought only three times in nearly 10 years, twice in 2012, when he defeated Hungarian Gyorgy Mizsei and Englishman Joe Elfidi, in turn, prior to his loss to Walsh.
But despite such lengthy absences and the advancing years, he is adamant that he is capable of making a successful comeback.
"By the time fight night comes around, I will have been training for eight or nine weeks, not just two or three, as happened when I took the fight with Walsh at such short notice," he said.
"So I will be back to my old self. You can't get your sharpness and timing in just two or three weeks. It takes six to eight weeks to achieve that and I have already started sparring and I feel good.
"I'm well ahead of schedule and I am looking forward to getting my career back on track and seeing how the next chapters unfold.
"Hopefully this will be the first of three or four fights by the end of the year. But I am determined to take them one at a time with 2016 earmarked for a title bout."
Harrison says he is refusing to even think about the inevitable consequences if he loses his appeal, adding: "It's up to my legal team to deal with that. I'll worry about it when I need to and I won't lose any sleep over it because there's nothing to think about meantime."
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