Cork's Steven Cairns is out to show that he is one of the best boxing prospects in Ireland and the UK when he steps into the ring next month.
The Douglas native, 19, has won his two professional bouts to date and is looking forward to fighting on this side of Europe for the first time since turning pro.
Cairns' debut came behind closed doors in Villareal last June when he defeated Spain's Rafael Castillo on points before knocking out Hungarian Szilveszter Ajtai in Dusseldorf in November.
Reflecting on those two bouts, the super-featherweight fighter told The Irish Mirror:: "For my first fight I was 18 years old. We were waiting for a while. I was meant to have my debut in Belfast, but that didn't happen because of Covid.
"Then I was waiting around for a month or two and they gave me the option if I wanted to fight in Spain and I said of course.
"I flew over to Spain. It was behind closed doors and I had my first fight against Rafael Castillo. I beat him on points and then three months later I headed over to Dusseldorf to fight on the undercard of Mike Perez so it was a good undercard to get on.
"I fought a fella called Szilveszter Ajtai and beat him by KO in 95 seconds. We were allowed a crowd for that fight so I had 40 Irish fans travel over.
"It was a bit better than my first one [with a crowd] because everytime you land a punch, people are screaming for you and it helps to get that extra 10% out of you to go and knock him out."
And Cairns will be roared on by around 100 supporters when he takes to the ring on the undercard of John Riel Casimero v Paul Butler, who fight for the WBO world bantamweight belt at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena on April 22.
It's an arena the teenager knows well having watched Katie Taylor defeat Firuza Sharipova inside the Liverpool venue last December and he is expecting an electric atmosphere.
He said: "It's a massive show with a lot of Liverpool fighters on it so I expect it to be pretty packed in there and the atmosphere is going to be unbelievable.
"This is the introduction. This is where I introduce myself to UK boxing and also Irish boxing as well because to be fair fighting over in Spain and Dusseldorf, it hasn't got out much to the UK or Ireland but it being live on Eurosport and Discovery +, this is my time to impress, show people what I have and show them that I'm going to be one of the best prospects coming through Irish and British boxing.
"There's about 100 people coming over from Ireland. I've also got family from England on my dad's side and I've family up in Scotland so they're all going to be travelling as well so there's going to be a good atmosphere."
Cairns revealed that a chat with his father made him realise what he needed to do if he wanted to become the best fighter he could be.
He explained: "I'm based in the UK at the moment, living here full-time away from my family and friends. It's just what I have to do if I really want to do this.
"I had a conversation with my dad and he was like 'you can stay here and we can train but I can only bring you so far'. He said 'if you really want to go for it and go out and try to win these world titles, these are the sacrifices you are going to have to make'.
"So I knew I had to make the move and just solely concentrate on boxing. All I do now is train, eat, sleep, rest and train.
"I'm seeing all my mates now booking holidays for the summer or going to festivals and stuff, but I can't do any of that.
"I don't see it as much of a sacrifice because it's what I want to do and I'm just so concentrated on making it in boxing. There'll be time for all that when I'm older."
Cairns is working with the brilliant Dave Coldwell, who has worked with the likes of Tony Bellew, David Haye and Kell Brook in the past, and says training has been brilliant in the build-up to his next fight against an as yet unnamed opponent.
He added: "Preparation has been amazing. I've been sparring with the newly crowned European champion Jordan Gill. He only fought Karim Guerfi last month and he knocked him out in unbelievable fashion.
"Then I have Sultan Zaurbek who is helping me train as well. He's ranked number ten in the world. The sparring is unbelievable, the training with Dave is unbelievable and on fight night on the 22nd I'm going to be like a different fighter."
Cairns is plotting a different path to a lot of fighters, but believes switching from the amateur game at such a young age could really help him in the long run.
He explained: "I see a lot of fighters that stay in the amateurs too long and when they try and make that transition from amateur to pro, it's two completely different games.
"As an amateur you're trying to nick points. This is about properly breaking down your opponent and taking him out. This is serious s***.
"They're trained in one style their whole life and they decide to turnover maybe after trying to get to an Olympics or giving up on the Olympic dream when you're 26/27 and then they're going into the pro game and they have fellas who have been learning how to turn into the punches and how to really get the most power out of themselves.
"Then they're wondering what's going on because they're getting hit so hard and they're not used to it."
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