Scott Harrison returns and targets world title this year By EWING GRAHAME Published on Saturday 3 March 2012 00:00 FORMER WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison insists he is a man on a mission. He confirmed yesterday that he will return to the ring on 31 March and, more surprisingly, declared that he expects to be a world champion again within six months. Considering that the 34-year-old hasn't boxed since he successfully defended his title against Australia's Nedal Hussein on November 5, 2005, it's a claim likely to raise eyebrows throughout the boxing fraternity. Then again, cynicism is only to be expected when one considers the car crash his career became as Harrison struggled with depression and the pressure to make the weight at 126lbs saw his life spiral out of control. Drink and drugs fuelled a lifestyle which saw him arrested for, among other offences, car theft and assaulting police officers. Now, though, he looks and sounds like the new person he claims to be and he believes that he is due a shot at redemption. "I spent three years in prison but I was always training and I've never been out of the gym since I was released," he said. I'm feeling good and I can't wait until 31 March because I've got a lot of lost time to make up for. My plan is to win the world title at super-featherweight in September and then move up to lightweight and win that one. It'll probably be the WBO title I go for but if there's a chance to challenge any of the other champions I'll take that. My first fight will be in Blackpool over eight or ten rounds and then I'll be back in action in May and June to get myself ready for the world title fight. Hopefully, I can fight in Glasgow again. Harrison cites the example of George Foreman as proof that his ambitions are far from groundless. The former heavyweight champion retired in 1977 but returned to the ring a decade later in order to raise funds for his church. His comeback climaxed in 1994 when he stopped Michael Moorer to claim the WBA and IBF titles, 20 years after he had been dethroned in Zaire by Muhammad Ali, who had been forced out of the sport for a mere three years for refusing to be drafted during the Vietnam war. "Of course I take a lot of inspiration from people like Foreman and Ali," said Harrison. Then you have Juan Manuel Marquez and Bernard Hopkins, both still brilliant at 38 and 47 respectively. They're even better now than they were in their 20s. So is Shane Mosley. I don't believe that fighters are finished when they reach 30. I feel better now than I did when I was in my 20s. It's going to be a miracle when I win the world title. It's a hard task when you think about it but fighting's in my blood. Am I a better fighter now? I don't know about that but I feel a lot fitter and I've been better in sparring but you don't know until you climb into that ring. But I'm sharp and I'm also very hungry. You've got to remember that I've seen the good side of life and the bad side of life and, when you lose everything, there's a hunger there to get it all back. I want all that stuff now even more than I did when I started out as a professional fighter at 18 years old. I want this badly and I don't want to see the bad side again. That's why I'm boxing. I've got three kids to provide for and if I don't fight then I don't earn. This is my trade. I also want to concrete my legacy in the sport and I believe that winning world titles will cement that.