LET’S just say Scott Harrison’s story is not of the squeaky-clean, saccharine variety. “There were a lot of dark times, a lot of very, very dark times,” the 41-year-old said recently, reflecting upon a once-triumphant boxing career which spiralled chaotically into drug and alcohol use and has effectively been put on hold ever since he assaulted three men in a Malaga night club in May 2007. One of a string of unsavoury incidents, this offence ultimately led to Harrison surrendering his world title and then his licence to box, being extradited to Spain to start a three-year jail term which ended in Barlinnie.

Enough there in other words for those who expect their sports heroes to be whiter than white to insist the likes of him should never be allowed to box again, particularly when you consider recent debates about whether Rangers should have felt a moral responsibility not to sign full-back Jon Flanagan or the furore of whether former Ibrox legend Paul Gascoigne should ever have been permitted a place in the Scottish football hall of fame. In the realpolitik of real life, after all, those with chequered pasts don’t always find themselves welcomed back into lucrative employment.

Personally, I think society should never give up on giving out second chances, even if it is up to those in question to earn back the respect they have lost. And the good news in this instance is that there are plenty of signs that Harrison has used his stint in prison to conquer the demons in his head. Whether it is drawing inspiration from his partner Stacey and four children, religion, cityscapes of Glasgow, or events unfolding in the outside world, part of his therapy saw him put his down time to good use by painting a series of diverting artworks. Bowing to popular demand, his paintings include more than passable likenesses of Brendan Rodgers and Steven Gerrard, the Celtic and Rangers managers. Plenty of punch drunk prize fighters have stayed on too long, but another part of his rehabilitation, though, undoubtedly involves a return to the boxing ring.

Snapped up instantly by Lee McAllister’s Assassin Boxing Promotions and Management stable, Harrison already has a fight scheduled for December 11 at the Glasgow Club Bellahouston. The opponent’s name will follow. While there has been claim and counter claim in the last few days, so much curiosity already surrounds that event that it seems sure to draw a crowd.

While Harrison has fought just three times in 13 years, there is a zeal about how he has returned to the sport which has been his life and a reservoir of goodwill from the followers who used to idolise him. While this is a brave new era for Scottish boxing featuring Josh Taylor, Lee McGregor and Willy Hutchinson, few will have forgotten over the intervening years how good this flinty little guy was. His 11th round stoppage in the re-match versus Manuel Medina in 2003, as he won back his WBO title, will live long in the memory, and there were six other successful defences after that before he eventually had to hand it away.

“I’m not bitter with anybody, I’m just looking to the future - what’s happened, happened,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve lost a lot of time in my career and in prison away from my family. I promised Stacey and the weans I’ll win the world title again so it’s definitely going to happen.”

Whether or not he ever becomes a world champion for a third time – like his fellow Cambuslang native Ricky Burns – Harrison has a shot at redemption now and such tales are woven into the very fabric of sport. Think Tiger Woods’ recent return to the top echelons of world golf after four back surgeries in four years, and a decade on from being chased out of his house with one of his golf clubs by his wife Elin Nordegren. Or Lester Piggott’s successful return to horse racing after a year at Her Majesty’s Pleasure when he claimed the Breeders’ Cup mile in 1990 and the 2000 Guineas in 1992. Apart from one night in a prison cell in Biarritz, Scottish cyclist David Millar was only ever behind handlebars rather than real bars but he has also been able to successfully rehabilitate his pro cycling and media career after a two-year drugs ban as a young man.

Harrison’s story will always be too earthy for some tastes, but having taken almost everything life has had to throw at him, boxing might just offer him salvation again.