He has tattoos of his boxing heroes all over his body but this is Robbie Barrett's big chance to ink his own name into the history books.
The Darfield southpaw, 25, has the opportunity to become only Barnsley's third ever British champion when he takes on lightweight champion Scott Cardle in Glasgow on Saturday.
Getting even close to emulating the achievements of Charlie Hardcastle in 1917 and Chris Saunders in 1995 by winning the Lord Lonsdale belt once seemed a wild dream for Barrett who lost twice early on as a professional in 2013 and had to contend with a career-threatening issue after an irregular brain scan.
"It was a scary period and my career could have been over before it had even started," reflected Barrett.
"I'd have definitely taken the English title and a British shot back then and seen them as the peak of my career but now it feels like it could just be the start. I have genuinely earned the shot too. I'm at the front of the queue to fight Cardle ahead of loads of other good fighters.
"To have only had two British champions from Barnsley in one hundred years is not a great return, although Josh Wale was very unlucky not to have won it against Gavin McDonnell. Sheffield has always been at the forefront of local boxing but I think Barnsley is doing well at the moment on the domestic level.
"I think it's even harder nowadays to win a British title too. In my division the top three fighters are all world-class. Boxing in this country is on a real high."
As the ink on Barrett's body has grown so has his self-belief, skills and ranking. He is now quicker, slicker, harder to hit, more harder-hitting and is unbeaten in ten with two Central Area title wins and two easy victories in English title fights against Marcus Ffrench and Kevin Hooper. For Barrett, the tattoos are a tribute to the sport he has always loved even if it hasn't been reciprocated.
"I wake up every morning and it's boxing or running to train for boxing. The boxers I have tattoos of are either boxers I have grown up with or looked up to.
"In boxing, for the first few years you earn peanuts. It's great that I have got some sponsors on board now with Shaw Waste Management and Specialised Movers. It helps me massively with training.
"The defeats I had were hard to take (single point losses against Andy Harris and Ismail Anwar) but I have a strong mentality which helped me come back. I'll have been written off for this fight because people will just look at my record, but that's fine. Losses mean nothing. They can only set you back a little bit. It's about how you respond to them. If I was to lose again then I'll come back from it."
Cardle is undoubtedly a step above anyone Barrett has faced in his 17-fight career and he has the added incentive of knowing that a win and a third defence would see him claim the British belt for keeps. Barrett believes he can derail those plans but appreciates it won't be easy with Cardle, who is of Scottish parentage, getting the crowd's backing on the Sky Sports televised show at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
He added: "They are already mentioning what is next for him but I think, if they are looking past me, they are in for a big shock. I have seen the southpaws he has been sparring and they are nothing like me. I think with my style it's more about what he has to do to adapt than the other way around. I've watched his fights and he gets the monk on when things aren't going his way and gets told off. He's going to be confident but he can be his own worst enemy. I want to be taking that shiny belt off him and bringing it back to Barnsley."
