Watford middleweight Elliott Matthews believes he could be a doctor or a surgeon if he applied himself in the same way he has to his boxing career, but will look to remain in the sport when he retires.

The 34-year-old (15-0-1) Southern Area champion ruthlessly stopped Ferenc Hafner in the third round of an eight-round contest at the Camden Centre on Saturday evening and expects to be out again next month.

But whilst the personal trainer is not thinking about calling it quits for a while yet, he already has one eye on the next chapter.

“I feel like there is nothing that can stop me,” he said. “You should have the confidence to do everything in life and I feel like I could be a doctor or surgeon if I committed myself to it for ten or 20 years like I have done boxing.

“I would like to help as a trainer in the future – or even as a manager and help make fighters more money, get better deals and help their careers.

“There are so many things to do in boxing and I hope to keep myself busy without becoming depressed or an alcoholic.

“That’s what happens to a lot of fighters because they don’t know what to do with themselves. I’m trying to keep myself level-headed.

“Boxing is a very selfish sport. I don’t have a girlfriend or kids and I’ve sacrificed a lot of the best years of my life to get to this stage.”

The fight was broadcast on the Freeview channel London Live and Matthews enjoyed the extra exposure being on a free-to-air channel brought.

“It felt like a throwback to the old days when fights were on television,” he said.

“Hopefully I can get people tuning in to watch me fight.”

And those who did tune in would not have been disappointed as Matthews knocked Hungarian Hafner (24-8) down three times in round two and twice in the third before the contest was stopped in the third minute.

“I had to work him out a little bit,” Matthews said of the southpaw. “The way he threw his shots and moved his head took some getting used to.

"After that it was a case of giving him brain damage – in a nice way, of course.”

It was a matter of when rather than if as Matthews controlled proceedings but he refused to get carried away. He said: “I’m always quite critical of how I perform.

"I want to see a perfect performance in every aspect.

"There’s still a lot to work on but you can only box what’s put in front of you.”

And with an eye on the immediate future, Matthews expects to be back in the ring next month with his next aim a shot at British middleweight title holder Nick ‘Bang Bang’ Blackwell.

“I should have a date soon,” said Matthews.

“It could be [a British title shot] but I wouldn’t like to say for sure – a lot of things can change.”