HIGH WYCOMBE'S emerging boxing superstar Ben Smith says he is ready to put on a show when he steps into the ring for the fourth time as a professional.

The super-lightweight, who fights out of Frank Warren's staple, will go to toe-to-toe with Plymouth's Chris Adaway at the Harrow Leisure Centre tomorrow evening.

Despite only cruising to points victories thus far in his short career, the precocious talent is fully aware as he steps deeper into the professional ranks he is fighting men now, not boys.

“When I went into my first pro fight I thought it was going to be easy,” Smith admitted. “But I have learnt I am not a man yet and I can't just go into a war with these guys like I did in the amateurs.

“I'm only 20 years old and although it's a four-year age gap, it does make a difference so I've got to box to my strengths because he is a tall fighter with a good jab but he is there to be hit.”

Adaway's record of five wins in 26 fights is less than stellar, but Smith says he is not leaving anything to chance after a meticulous training camp under the tutelage of trainer Mark Tibbs.

“I feel strong, I'm punching harder than ever before and although it's a cliché, this was the best training camp I've ever had so all I need to do is make weight comfortably,” he said.

“Making weight is something that I always struggled with in the amateurs, I'd cut too much off and lose power, but I've got a nutritionist on board with me now who is always in constant contact.

“I want to make sure that I'm approaching things as professionally as I can going forward because I feel like I'm ready to make a statement as a pro after doing so well in the amateurs.”

And after a devastating period which has seen further demands for an inquiry into the safety of the sport again after death of Scottish boxer Mike Towell, Smith is trying not to let it cloud his focus.

“It doesn't worry me at all,” Smith said. “Every now and again we have a death in boxing but there are so many more deaths in other sports, it feels like boxing is the only sport highlighted. “I didn't know much about Mike, I just heard a few rumours he possibly wasn't well before the fight but still it was horrible hear about and such a shame, especially because he had a young family.”

And Smith readily acknowledges the dangers his craft.

“Boxing is a fighting game, it's a hard sport, and everyone knows the risks before stepping into the ring, but at the same time that is why we love it because it is an adrenaline sport,” he said.

But for now, though, Smith remains focussed on the task at hand.

“This year determines how fast my career progresses,” he said. “One day, I want to be a world champion.”