Johnny Lewis knows what a world champion looks like, having trained half a dozen of them already, and reckons latest protégé Harry Garside has what it takes to become one.

“If we put him into the ring for a world title, he’s going to win it, don’t worry,” Lewis said.

Which is why the legendary trainer came out of semi-retirement, at the age of 77, to oversee the career of Garside.

Having won Australia’s first boxing medal in Tokyo since Grahame ‘Spike’ Cheney in Seoul in 1988, Garside officially announced he will turn professional. In his corner will be Lewis, who guided the likes of Kostya Tszyu, Jeff Fenech, Jeff Harding and Gairy St. Clair to world titles.

Garside will make his professional debut on the undercard of Tim Tszyu’s clash with Japan’s Takeshi Inoue at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on November 17 against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

The 24-year-old met up with Lewis recently at an Erskineville café and within five minutes the legendary trainer decided he’d found a prospect he could take all the way to the top.

“Even at the Olympics, a bronze medal was a failure.”

Australian boxer Harry Garside.

“I did live with a bit of hope that we could do it again, but realistically I didn’t think it was going to come,” Lewis said.

“When it came to this, I was straight in, I took the bait.