THEY share the same manor, similar backstories and an identical desire to succeed in the games they love.

The tale of Mark Warburton, the ex-player who made his fortune as a trader in the City and gave it all up to start on the bottom rung of the coaching ladder, has been trotted out more often than the Lipizzaner Stallions since he continued his footballing ascent by becoming manager of Rangers in the summer.

Just a short walk down Paisley Road West from Ibrox Stadium – on the corner of Portman Street, to be precise - another example of a qualified professional on an upward trajectory swapping the suit and tie for the blood and sweat of professional sport is to be found.

Sam Kynoch spent five years studying in Glasgow and Stockholm to become a corporate lawyer and found himself involved in multi-million pound deals with city firm Dundas and Wilson before calling it a day in 2013.

A talented amateur boxer, he had been training fighters and running semi-professional shows in his spare time and could no longer resist the urge to go all-in at forging an alternative career as a full-time manager and promoter.

Now running his own gymnasium under the MGM Scotland banner with a stable of 14 boxers, he is quietly building his profile. Kynoch may not be as recognisable as the Rangers boss quite yet, but he understands the motivation behind Warburton's decision to swap the trading floor for the dressing room and shares the Englishman's view that lessons learned in business can translate well to other codes.

"That gentleman has brought his skillset over to football and I am looking to do the same in boxing," said the 29-year-old.

"I approach it in a manner others don't because they often don't come from a professional services background. In some ways, it can be frustrating because I expect things to happen straight away, so I maybe have to adapt to that.

"I have been involved in boxing for 18 years, though, and I am still hands-on with the training element.

"I have boxed, coached, promoted, I am in management and I have the legal skills to advise people as their careers develop on contracts and how to make money and hang on to it.

"Doing this is not a decision I made lightly because a first-class law degree took a fair bit of work.

"I was on a set track there and knew where I was going, but, at the end of the day, I just wasn't really happy.

"My passion is for boxing. I have a great stable of boxers with a desire to succeed and that is far more potent than just doing something for monetary gain.

"I was doing administration stuff for companies such as dealing with shareholdings and the appointment of directors as well as acquisitions and sales of companies.

"Just before I finished, there was a deal I was working on that was in the hundreds of millions.

"It can be difficult to hop back into law when you have come off a set career path, so the way I am thinking is that this has to work for me. It is a risk.

"My wife is a surgeon, so her job brings a degree of stability. I now have a daughter as well. I might not have taken the gamble had I had a young child at the time, but her arrival has given me extra drive to make a better future for all of us."

Kynoch keeps in touch with the legal world through a role as a tutor at Strathclyde University, but it is clear that stepping between the ropes and being around the heat and humidity of the gym is where he feels most comfortable.

"I picked up a rib injury which curtailed my career and 19 and started training people," he said. "I might have still been chasing a competitive career if it wasn't for the injury and I think I am a better promoter than I was a boxer.

"We are open to anything that will bring big-time boxing back to Scotland. Levels of production have been dire in some small hall shows.

"Look at what Barry Hearn has done with darts. He has transformed it and that is what we want to do."

*Sam was speaking to preview MGM Scotland's first-ever boxing dinner club night at the Crowne Plaza hotel next Thursday, October 29.