SEAN LAZZERINI’S goals are crude but quantifiable. “I want to be a millionaire by the time I’m 30,” states the 25-year-old without hesitation, while also revealing an unabashed determination to one day become world champion.

It is that time of year when young children pen their wish lists to Santa and in boxing terms Lazzerini is asking for the equivalent of a computer, a bike, a football strip and a Scalextric all at once. He wants the lot.

Demonstrating naked ambition is frowned upon in other sports – footballers must at no point say they believe their team can win a treble – but in boxing it is commonplace, reflecting the need for a fighter to be brimming in self-confidence and to continually feed the hype machine that keeps the industry churning along.

Very few boxers enter the sport without believing they “can go all the way” but it is one thing to say you are going to sweep aside all and sundry on your glorious run to fame and fortune and quite another to actually make it happen.

Still, Lazzerini starts off from a stronger vantage point than most. Part of the Team Scotland boxing team that won three gold and two bronze medals at this summer’s Commonwealth Games, the Glaswegian has been signed up by the St Andrew’s Sporting Club to begin his professional journey, joining Scotland team-mate Matthew McHale at Iain Wilson’s esteemed organisation.

This was the ideal time for Lazzerini to leave the amateur ranks. A painful first-round exit at the 2018 Commonwealth Games was followed by a hand injury that denied him the chance to try to qualify for the Olympics. Topping the podium in Birmingham atoned for both of those disappointments but the post-event celebrations were fleeting.

The light-heavyweight took a short break in Spain but beyond that was straight back into the gym, preparing for the next chapter alongside trainers Jim McCosh and Nassar Lule.

A Commonwealth Games title often represents the pinnacle of an athlete’s career but for Lazzerini the hope is it will become a minor footnote on a glittering boxing CV.

“I’m excited to have signed for St Andrew’s and ready to take over the professional game now,” he says with typical understatement. “I can’t wait for the chance to do what I do best and get paid for it.

“The plan was always to turn over after the Games so everything has just fallen into place. I didn’t do much to celebrate winning the gold really. I went to Barcelona for a bit but that was it. I lead a pretty boring life, to be honest. I’m not really a drinker or anything like that so I’ve just been training a lot and working in my day job as a physical trainer.

“Birmingham was good but I’m not expecting it to be a career highlight or anything like that. There are much bigger things to come from me and when that happens a Commonwealth Games medal will be the last thing you think about it.

“You can’t dwell on things, even the positives. It’s just the beginning. I’ve got much bigger plans and things I want to achieve.

“I want to do the proper route: British title, then European and then become world champion, taking big names out along the way. I’m in this for the long haul. I want to become a millionaire by the time I’m 30 so I’ve got to do it right.”

There have been some minor adjustments in switching from the amateur to the professional game but continuity is key in Lazzerini’s eyes.

“I’ve started training a bit longer and my style has to slow down a bit more as a pro,” he added. “But at the end of the day I’m still just going to be me. I’m still training twice a day every day for war. I’m sticking with the same people that I’ve worked with for a while, the ones who know how to get the best out of me. Jim and Nassar have coached me since I was a young boy and they’re coming on the journey with me. I’m hoping they stick with me right until the end.”

St Andrew’s has sent many talented prospects on the road to greatness and Lazzerini was happy to have joined the stable.

“When I was originally about to sign professional [a few years ago], I spoke to so many people and my head was all over the place,” he added, while revealing he plans on making his pro debut in the coming months.

“You’re getting fed information from everyone. But Iain Wilson just stood out as a nice, humble guy. Everyone just has good things to say about him. I spoke about it with my family and we just felt that Iain was the guy to go with.”