It has been an incredibly long and winding road for the Liverpool southpaw, who turned professional with that dream way back in January 2011, but he reached the summit, albeit via email, late last year.

His reward for that accolade, which came when the WBA stripped Lamont Roach of his 130-pound title, is this first defense against perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter in Britain, Anthony Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs). The pair will meet in the main event of a Queensberry show Saturday at Dublin’s 3Arena live on DAZN.

But never mind his 41-fight run to the title, his journey to Dublin for this weekend’s clash has been arduous enough, given he trains in Dubai. He had to head to Oman, then to Istanbul and then finally on to the Irish capital, where he used to train under Peter Taylor while living out of a Vauxhall Transit van.

Dickens (36-5, 15 KOs), three years Cacace’s junior, is the more experienced pro and heads into this fight off the back of his stunning upset victory over undefeated Albert Batyrgaziev in Istanbul in July. He secured the interim title that night and will be giving everything to ensure his near 15-year wait for the belt does not end after one night in Dublin.

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Jazza Dickens: “When you become a champion it doesn’t change anything. You still have to go in there and win your title back, so it’s the same for me as it is for him. My coach made me sit down and watch three of his recent fights, I was very, very impressed by his style of boxing, how he can box like a small man or a big man. He’s good at everything, really.”

Anthony Cacace: “Now, I'm just riding the crest of a wave now and have the chance to become a two-time world champion. All the other stuff comes and goes out the window. I am fully focused. I am on the brink of obsessed at this point. Jazza has got a really hard night ahead of him, and so do I. But I really do genuinely believe that this could be one of the best Irish fights in a long time.”

Despite being the defending world champion, Dickens is between a +200 and +240 underdog. Cacace, a former world champion, is around a -275 favorite. A draw is +1400.

This is one of the deepest cards in the world so far this year. The two other 12-rounders, which involve a Dubliner in each, look like guaranteed action fights. First, Pierce O’Leary takes on late stand-in Maxi Hughes at junior welterweight. Then 33-year-old Jono Carroll faces ‘Posh Boy’ Colm Murphy at junior lightweight in a classic Dublin vs. Belfast derby. There are also debuts for two of Ireland’s most exciting amateurs for years in heavyweight Adam Olaniyan and junior middleweight Bobbi Flood.

3Arena, Dublin.

The entire show will be streamed live on DAZN from 7pm GMT.