Garside, who became Australia's first Olympic medallist since Grahame Cheney claimed silver in Seoul in 1988, announced his decision to turn professional on Thursday alongside the 77-year-old Lewis.

The lightweight is hoping to make his professional on the undercard for Tim Tszyu's fight with Japan's Takeshi Inoue at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena on November 17.

Garside's promoters, No Limit Boxing, have yet to find an opponent for the 24-year-old, however, with another card on December 10 a possible option if no fight can be confirmed for next month.

Lewis, who has trained the likes of Jeff Fenech, Jeff Harding and Kostya Tszyu, claimed the temptation to work with Garside was too good to turn down.

"I didn't want to close the door on anything," Lewis said.

"Peter Mitrevski (Garside's manager) drove me mad to get me to handle him. That stoked the fire a bit.

"I always said if the right person was there then I'd go for it.

"Peter was talking about Harry and we met and within five minutes I knew there was something special about him.

"Everyone was telling me about this kid from Victoria and we are going to see how far we can take him.

"I honestly do believe in him. He's made for it, he's got great height and a beautiful reach.

"A lot of people don't think he can punch hard, so that's a great asset for us to go in the ring with."

Garside, who wore his Olympic-issue sandals to show off his freshly-painted nails, had hand surgery in the wake of his exploits in Tokyo.

The Victorian said he was close to full strength and claimed the support of Lewis was already beginning to reap rewards.

"It feels good to have the backing of Johnny," Garside said.

"I feel very special and training in the gym I have been picking up a lot.

"The amateur style is a bit different to the pros, so it's great to have someone like Johnny who is a wizard when it comes to professional boxing.

"I will need to slow things down a bit and believe that I have the power, so we're changing a few things and I'm excited.

"The best thing about amateur boxing is it prepares you for anyone, because you never know who you'll get.

"Whoever they put in front of me, I'll be ready.

"I'm eager to get in there and it's a bit more of a show."

Asked what he thought of Garside's colourful toes, Lewis smiled and responded bluntly.

"The only nailing we want him to do is on fight night," he said.

Australian Associated Press