There were just five days, 120 hours in total, separating Mitchell Smith’s pending retirement and the chance to breathe new life into the boxing career that started way back in 2012.

When The Ring spoke to 32-year-old Smith in September, there was an air of desperation in his tone as he struggled to pin down his first really meaningful fight since an infamous defeat to underdog George Jupp almost a decade ago.

Smith (18-1, 9 KOs) had been scheduled to box at York Hall toward the end of September, but when Mace Ruegg (12-1) withdrew due to injury, Smith and his team were unable to secure an opponent despite a raft of offers being made.

When that potential outing devolved into another false dawn for the scrap metal worker, Smith, who was one of British boxing’s most promising prospects 10 years ago, was on the verge of hanging them up for good.

“I had a hard stop in my mind,” Smith told The Ring. “My medicals were going to run out on October 30, and I thought I will just keep going until then, stay in shape, keep working, because you never know. But October 30 was the cutoff.

“The character in me just said, ‘Keep plugging away until your medical runs out, keep plugging away until your medical runs out,’ and something might drop.”

And drop it did. Smith was offered the chance to face undefeated lightweight Arnie Dawson (8-0, 4 KOs) in a 10-round fight tonight at London’s O2 Arena as part of the undercard for Joseph Parker’s heavyweight clash with Fabio Wardley.

“Just look at the date” Smith said. “October 25, just five days before my cutoff. When the fight was offered to me, I said yes in a heartbeat. I was sparring six, eight rounds, so I knew my fitness was there or thereabouts and because I’d be training with my medical cutoff in my head, I was fit and I’m ready.

“It’s going to be a special evening. And to do it on a card promoted by Frank Warren, where I started, is just special to me. Back in the day I boxed in all the big arenas, but never the O2. It feels like this was meant to be.”

The fight against 22-year-old Dawson is for a WBO regional lightweight title and although they're often lightly regarded, whoever wins will move into the organisation’s top 15.

After a decade in the wilderness, that would be massive for Smith. Not only that, Smith pointed out that it is the very same strap that eluded him before his first prison sentence put his boxing career on hold.

“It feels like it’s supposed to be happening,” Smith added. “Because back in 2017 I moved up from super [featherweight] to lightweight and I was supposed to box Craig Evans for that same belt. It got finalised, we accepted, they accepted and just as it was about to be announced, I went to prison. It’s mad that the first opportunity that I’ve been given since then is for this title.

“To be able to have an opportunity to get myself in a position when I can actually stand up and say, ‘Right, I’m back, I deserve a shot,’ is huge for me. I’m ready to go out there and earn it.”

Smith was convicted of actual bodily harm and affray charges in 2017 for his role in a fight at a pub. He received a suspended sentence of two years and later served two more months for missing a meeting with his parole officer.

Now, for the first time since 2015, Smith is involved in a major fight week. Given that his whole career is on the line, it feels like an entirely new experience.

“I’ve not been up for a fight like this since I can remember,” he added. “Not even the fights back in the day. And I'll tell you why: because I was maybe a little bit arrogant before and I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I'll just blow him over.’ But this time it’s different, everything is on the line. This is the opportunity I’ve craved for so many years. I had five days left to get it and now I won’t let it slip away.”

Smith versus Dawson will be streamed before Parker faces Wardley in the 12-round main event of a DAZN Pay-Per-View show. Coverage is set to start at 6:30 p.m. BST in the UK (£24.99) and 1:30 p.m. ET in the United States ($59.99).