SEAN LAZZERINI is in no rush. For the majority of boxers, it is their lifetime ambition to turn professional but the 21-year-old is savvy enough to know that rushing into the pro game will do him no good at all.
The Glaswegian went to the Commonwealth Games this year with ambitions of grabbing a spot on the podium but a tough draw, coupled with some dubious refereeing decisions, saw him crash out to home fighter Clay Waterman in the first round.
But rather than make any quick decisions about leaving the amateur game behind as so many do following a major championship, Lazzerini believes a bit more time developing as a fighter in the amateur ranks will be beneficial.
“I’ve still got a lot of learning to do before I go professional," he said.
"I want to improve so much more and I want to make sure I’m so much better than I currently am before I turn pro. I want to use the amateurs as a kind of apprenticeship and make sure that I improve a lot and learn everything I can.
"The amateur game is where you learn your trade. That’s where you learn all of your skills and then when you move into the pros, you have to adapt to that style.
"When I turn pro, I feel like I’ll have so many weapons in my arsenal that I’ll be well-equipped and I’ll hopefully get a lot of good wins – and make a lot of money.
"I still need to improve on everything – fitness, skills, technique, awareness, there’s nothing that I can’t improve on.”
Lazzerini may have the maturity to look at the bigger picture but that doesn't mean his early defeat in Gold Coast didn't sting. The -81kg fighter failure to return from Australia with a medal around his neck and he was, he admits, hugely disappointing. But he will, he insists, use the defeat to drive him on.
"I feel like I didn’t perform to my best in Gold Coast. It was a close fight and a lot of people thought that I should have won it, but I should have done a lot better," he said.
"Sometimes in your first fight of a tournament, you can be a little slow and I wasn't quite as sharp as I’d liked to have been. If I’d won that fight and gone on in the tournament, I think I would have got much better. But it’s one of those things.
"When I got beaten, I just wanted to get back home so that I could start training again. I’m going to use that defeat at the Commonwealth Games as motivation to get better. I feel like I’m really pushing on."
Lazzerini’s keenness to remain in the amateur ranks has already paid off, in part at least. In June, he won gold at the GB Championship and having recently been invited to join the GB programme, which is based in Sheffield, he has spent the summer striving to improve every single day.
“It’s been really good down in Sheffield – I’m learning a lot and the training has been great," he said. “In GB training, you’re definitely taken out of your comfort zone but that’s what you want because that’s how you improve. Having a variety of guys to spar with has been good too - there’s more competition and more athletes so it’s good to be amongst it all.”
However, Lazzerini is conscious that he doesn’t want to drop everything that got him to this point just because he has moved up to the next level with the GB squad. Financial support from his sponsor, LSK Building Supplies, means the Scot has the luxury of continuing as a full-time athlete and he will split his time between the British training headquarters and Glasgow, where will continue to work with his long-term coach, Jim McCosh at Bellahouston Boxing Club.
He is looking towards next season confident in the knowledge that few of his peers are working harder than he is.
“I’ll still be a full-time athlete, which is really good for me. That allows me to focus completely on boxing and hopefully I can use that to my advantage to make sure I get some good wins on the international scene," he said.
“You don’t want to stop doing everything that got you to this point in your career. The guys in Scotland are the ones who got me to this level and so they know me better than anyone does and they know what’s good for me.
“I just want to keep racking up the fights and gaining more experience. I’ll hopefully keep getting better and will start getting more wins.”
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