NEWPORT boxing sensation Mo Nasir's Olympic dream is back on and he has the gold to prove it.

The Yemen-born 21-year old shrugged off the worst year of his fledgling career at the weekend by tearing down the house at the Multi-Nations tournament in Sheffield, winning a gold medal.

The St Joseph's gym member, who has already tasted glory with a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, has put himself back into contention for an Olympic berth after moving up to the 51 kilogram category to become a flyweight fighter.

Olympic qualifiers are on the agenda later this month in Italy and Nasir is hoping his golden performance at the weekend will have caught the eye of the Team GB selectors.

Nasir, who didn't speak a word of English before joining the Pill gym at the age of nine, found 2007 a bit of a struggle.

He disappointed at the World Championships in Chicago in October, a dip in his form becoming apparent because he was struggling to make the light-fly weight limit of 48 kilos.

However, his move up is clearly paying dividends and now he's targeting a place in Beijing.

He said: "The old Mo Nasir is back, I feel confident and on top of my game again now I have moved up a weight.

"I have put on too much muscle to make light-flyweight and the Multi-Nations was a real test for me and to win the gold was very encouraging.

"I want to make my name at the Olympic Games and I boxed this weekend in front of three GB coaches and the elite performance director.

"Hopefully they were impressed and I will still get a chance to box at the Olympics, that is my dream."

Trainer Tony Borg is hoping politics won't stop Nasir chasing his Olympic dream - as it did for a young amateur by the name of Joe Calzaghe - after his move up to flyweight.

Nasir would definitely represent Wales at the Olympic qualifiers in Italy later this month as the number one ranked light-flyweight, but he might face a box-off to get in at his new weight.

Borg explained: "Mo is definitely ready to prove he's the best at 51 kilos and all we want is for him to get a chance to prove it.

"He's been a very dedicated amateur and the way he conducts himself in and out of the ring is first rate."

Nasir has been living with the rest of the British squad at their training camp in Sheffield, but home is where the heart is and he's now back in Newport with plenty of sparring options.

"I enjoyed my time in Sheffield but Newport is the best place for me to be, it's where I feel comfortable," he said.

"I have loads of sparring options, both amateur and professional and I can't praise everyone in the gym highly enough.

"They've been brilliant with me since the day I joined and now I want to win gold at the Olympics for them and for the whole of Wales, because the real Mo Naz is back!"

The Argus will continue to follow Nasir's progress as he bids for an Olympic berth.