For most 22-year-olds, a birthday which consists of not going out with friends, avoiding alcohol and being kept away from your family for the rest of that week sounds like a terrible way to mark the occasion. For Mitchell Smith, he wouldn't want it any other way.

Smith is chasing a dream. The Harrow Weald boxer is fighting for a version of the European championship on Saturday as he builds towards a British title shot next year and, hopefully, world honours in 2016.

The English super featherweight champion saw his two-year-old daughter briefly this morning but has only seen her four times in the last eight weeks as he chooses to live away from his partner and their children whilst he is in training.

This afternoon family time was swapped for cardio and pads sessions and tonight he will have a photo-shoot ahead of Saturday's vacant WBO European title shot with Hungarian Zoltan Kovacs at the ExCel Arena in London.

Smith, who has won all nine of his fights as a professional, told the Harrow Times: "It was tough [only seeing his daughter for 15 minutes] but it is for the best. Being away from my family makes me a tougher person. Come Saturday nothing will stop me."

The ex-Bushey Boxing Club member continued: "I'm not a big one for birthdays and Christmas if I'm honest, because I wasn't brought up that way. My birthday present will be walking in on Saturday night and seeing my daughter's face when she sees that belt and also bringing it back to the rest of my family, like my dad and my brother."

Smith thanked his dad John, who now runs Bushey ABC, for helping arrange his ticket sales.

"I have sold 1,500 tickets from our doorstep and someone at (promoter) Frank Warren's office said not even (British boxing legend) Ricky Hatton sold that many from his door step, which is quite a statement. I guess my boxing is doing the talking," Smith said.

The fighter from Harrow Weald says preparations for Saturday's bout have been perfect and a large part of that is down to sponsor Paul Winter, of Winterwell Build, and his wife Karen, who allow the boxer to stay at their house and cook for him during his training camps so he can remain 100 per cent focussed on his boxing.

Hungarian champion Kovacs (11-4) has only been stopped once before but Smith, who is trained by former WBU champion Jason Rowland, is confident he will end the fight before the closing bell on Saturday night.

He said: "Kovacs is quite tall and rangy. I'm expecting him to try to keep it long and for him to be wary of what I throw. But I am super fit and if I get him against the ropes and go to work on him then I'm looking to open him up. I am confident I can get the stoppage; I am hitting hard, I'm doing the weight properly and this is the best I have felt leading into a fight. I think I could get the stoppage by around rounds four to six."

The EBU's version is considered the main European title but victory on Saturday should lift Smith into the top 15 in the world with the WBO.

Smith is also likely to be an interested observer that night when Gary Sykes and Liam Walsh fight for the British belt as he targets a shot at the crown early next year.

"I should be fighting in February and I have heard whispers that the British title could come up. I've heard a few people say I might get a British title shot in February," he said.

Smith would preferably like to win the prestigious British strap outright, which would involve winning three title defences, but says that aim would have to fit into his greater ambition.

The 'Babyface Assassin' doesn't lack confidence and boldly states: "I will have a world title by 2016 for definite." Now that would be some present for his 24th birthday.