The 30-year-old Yorkshireman didn’t have things his own way against the underdog from Oldham but he navigated the 12-round distance better than Fiaz and did just enough over the second half of the fight to eke out an entertaining but tight split decision win.

Padley (19-1, 6 KOs) has enjoyed a meteoric rise since upsetting Mark Chamberlain on the undercard of Daniel Dubois’ knockout of Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium in September of 2024.

Last February he answered a short notice call to challenge The Ring’s No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter, Shakur Stevenson, for his WBC lightweight title. He lost in nine rounds that night but wants to keep pushing on towards another world title shot at 130 pounds.

“He came with everything. I thought he'd be easier to back up but, no. Full credit to him he's gone out there, trained as hard as he physically can and come here to win which made for a great fight,” Padley said after the fight with Fiaz.

“I set out with a goal and a dream. I've not given up on that dream and I'm making that dream a reality, I’m living proof of that. A normal working lad and here I am with the big lights headlining a show so a dream to reality.”

The man responsible for plotting a route forward for Padley is his promoter, Eddie Hearn.

There are no easy touches in the higher reaches of the talent-laden junior lightweight division but having seen Padley both win and defend the European title, Hearn wants to continue pushing him forward.

Hearn revealed that WBC junior welterweight champion, Dalton Smith, is scheduled to return from injury and headline the Sheffield Arena in late October and that Padley can expect to be involved in the show in a big fight.

“Absolutely nothing easy at all in the 130-pound division,” Hearn said.

“We saw that last week in Houston with Ray Ford against O'Shaquie Foster you saw our fight with Nunes against Navarette. You’ve got Anto Cacace, I think that's a good fight as well.

“Look, it's never easy to win a world championship but he's proved he can box at that level and you know once you conquer Europe and you defend your championship, that's where you go to world level so whether it's a championship shot or a big name, that's what we're looking for for Josh Padley.”