There's a reason Josh Kelly has the 'Pretty Boy' nickname. He doesn't exactly have the look of someone who gets punched in the face for a living and could probably find work as an Instagram model if he fancied it.
But the Sunderland boxer has had a very successful start to his professional career, winning all seven of his fights so far, knocking out five opponents and barely even having a scratch on his face to show for his efforts.
The 24-year old welterweight, who competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, has two titles around his waist as well as being named the Boxing Writers' Young Boxer of the Year a couple of months back - joining an esteemed list of winners that includes Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe.
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His trainer Adam Booth, a guy who coached David Haye and George Groves has already called him the most talented boxer he's ever worked with and Kelly has lived up to the hype so far.
"I'm moving pretty fast to be fair!" Kelly told SPORTbible.
"I'm learning on the job and I'm coming on leaps and bounds in the gym. At the moment I'm at where I need to be.
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"The question is where I end up this year, mid next-year - that will be the defining part of the first half of my career. We'll see out he end of this year and see what fights we've got lined up."
Kelly's next step in his rapid ascension is squaring off against Walter Fabian Castillo on the stacked Oleksandr Usyk vs Tony Bellew card at the Manchester Arena this weekend.
But with the way his stock continues to rise, and the fact promoter Eddie Hearn rates him so highly, it will surely not be long before he's in the world title picture.
"Back in the day you wouldn't get a world title fight until 23 or 24 fights in. It's mad that people are asking me that, even my friends and family. I'm just a novice in the professional game, like a baby.
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"It's good that people think that because they rate me highly but on the other hand I feel as though I need to learn a little bit more.
"I'm always underestimating myself and I always will overestimate my opponents until I get in there and do what I do and I'm like, 'That was easier than I thought!'.
"For me, I think I could do with another 10 fights at least and that will take me to 17 fights but if I'm moving fast enough and Adam says, 'This is your chance' and lets me off the lead then we'll see where we're at next year."
Kelly's focus is solely on his upcoming fight but there is talk that he could end up fighting again in a month's time, potentially making his debut on American soil as WBA super-middleweight champion Rocky Fielding takes on Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who Kelly believes is "the face of boxing" at the moment.
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Getting on that card would be "huge" according to the man himself as boxing across the pond is one of main goals.
"When I was a kid I used to always watch the boxing on the tele and it was always the big fights that I'd stay up late for, watching them in America," he added.
"Boxing has come back over to the UK now and the big fights are over here but when I was watching fights in the era I was brought up in, it was always the American fights.
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"To me, that's a big goal in my head to crack that. Once I go over there that's a little box ticked for me."
There's a whole lot of old school influence in the way Kelly works. He's the opposite to a brawler, his movement is different gravy and it's aided him in perfecting a style where he lands a lot of punches but doesn't get hit by many.
"I used to be a stocky kid from the North East who wanted to fight everyone and it wasn't until my Dad was like, 'Start moving!' - and I started thinking, 'This is a lot easier' - I'm catching them a lot more and I'm not getting caught.
"I started watching more old-school fighters like [Sugar Ray] Leonard, [Roberto] Duran and eventually ended up with my trainer Adam Booth, who must think I've mastered that style. I've got loads of tricks up my sleeve so we can't wait to get out there now."
Winning is of course the most important aspect of the sport but that's not always enough satisfaction for Kelly.
When asked whether he feels he has a responsibility to entertain and put a show on, he gives a very interesting response - one which includes a football analogy.
"I tell myself no but it's apparent that it is because when I come out of the fight and feel as though I haven't done my best or put a performance on for them [the fans] - I always sit there and stew in the changing rooms and be like, 'I could've done that!'
"I've always wanted to please people; I wanted to please my Dad when he coached, I want to please Adam when he coaches, I want to please everyone. When someone watches my fight I want them to sit there and go, 'That was entertaining, I like the way he did that'.
"A lot of people look at me and think I'm this cocky kid but I'm just trying to showcase myself so you remember me on that night.
"You watch a Real Madrid player or back in the day Brazil, Messi or Ronaldo - you never really seem to remember - even though you should do - the hard-working ones who just pass the ball.
"You pick that moment out where Ronaldo does a step-over, turns and scores. In my mind I've always wanted to be that guy so that's how my boxing style has developed."
Featured Image Credit:Topics:Ā Boxing News, Boxing, Oleksandr Usyk, Tony Bellew
