This weekend, the 24-year-old lightweight from Wigan will fight former British title challenger Cory O’Regan on the undercard preceding John Hedges' British cruiserweight title defense against Pat Brown.

DAZN will broadcast the action exclusively live from Manchester's Co-op Live Arena at 7pm BST on Saturday in the UK, 2pm ET.

Howarth’s first big screen appearance came as part of the undercard for Dalton Smith's fight with Mathieu Germain in April 2025. Previously used to boxing on low-profile, small shows, a nervous Howarth made a memorably brief but expletive-laden appearance at the pre-fight press conference.

Howarth’s first time in the spotlight might not have gone well but it certainly made a change from the routine, cookie-cutter answers that such occasions tend to encourage.

A couple of days later, Howarth (15-2, 4 KOs) looked much more at ease as he notched up a routine six-round win over Mario Portillo.

“Do you know what it is? When I first turned professional, I'd never spoken in front of a camera before. Ever since, I've just hated cameras, really,” Howarth told The Ring with a laugh.

“I'm getting better at them now, I’m getting more used to them.”

Howarth will have to get comfortable in front of the camera. He looks set to be involved in some meaningful domestic fights in the coming years.

Unless they are avid watchers of small hall streams or big card prelims, most people’s only exposure to Howarth will have been the 40 minutes he spent chasing down the highly-rated Giorgio Visioli in December.

A massive underdog, Howarth fought well, took everything Visioli could dish out and continued to push the pace despite absorbing some early punishment.

Howarth lost a unanimous 10-round decision but gained plenty from the experience.

“I'd only been with Dave [Allen, his trainer] for six months so I think it came a bit too soon, but the opportunity was there and it was one that we couldn't turn down, really. We weren't in a position to turn it down,” he remembered.

“I think if I'd have got close to him and started letting my shots go a bit earlier I could have won a different fight but it is what it is, isn't it? We move on.”

Howarth has spent much of the past year in the gym with Allen. He was due to fight the talented, unbeaten Josh Holmes on Saturday but will instead face O’Regan (15-1, 3 KOs) after injury ruled the Lancastrian out of the fight.

If he is fit, tricky southpaw O’Regan will provide Howarth with a serious test but it also gives him the chance to show exactly what he has been working on.

“I've been with Dave now nearly 18 months, so it's all coming together now. I know how he wants me to box,” he said.

“It’s a bit of everything really. Boxing on the back foot, going forward, putting pressure on.”

The fact that Howarth is willing to mention the very idea of boxing on the back-foot shows just how far he has come since bursting on to the North West regional scene as an all action, marauding prospect.

“I'm a completely different fighter from then to now,” he said.

“You need more tricks in you. The higher you go with the levels, the more styles you're going to fight so you've just got to be ready for anything.”