“I'm excited, man,” Barrett told The Ring as the days ticked down to Saturday's fight with Gavin Gwynne. “I’m excited because he thinks he's going to win.”

After losing a 10-round decision to Jazza Dickens in February 2025, Barrett was consigned to the wilderness and has been out of sight, out of mind since.

As well as having an important fight against an accomplished opponent to sink his teeth into, the 33-year-old from Manchester is also thrilled about being the center of attention again.

Barrett (35-3, 18 KOs) is a born performer and not knowing if and when the spotlight would find him again has been hard to cope with. A new promotional deal with MF Pro has given him the perfect platform. DAZN will broadcast the fight 12-round lightweight fight from Wembley Arena in London.

“That's what I can't wait for,” he said. “It's all about me. All eyes will be on me and this guy is going to keep coming and I'm just going to break him down like building blocks. Just keep breaking him down.”

Barrett has been fighting professionally for 12 years but for long spells of his career, it feels like he has been taken for granted. At one point, he seemed ideally placed to pick up the mantle from former WBA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla and become the figurehead of Manchester boxing but things never quite fell into place.

There have been some big nights. He is a former European champion at junior lightweight and, in November 2022, he dropped Shavkat Rakhimov before being stopped in the ninth round of a short-notice bid for the IBF world title.

It dawned on Barrett that he would have to battle for every opportunity, and the desperation not to lose his ranking and make himself even easier to ignore meant he stayed at 130 pounds for one fight too long.

Having to return to the small hall scene he emerged from wasn’t a pleasant experience but rather than giving in, Barrett stuck to his task.

“There might have been a reason for that. Probably to make me even more hungry. How much do I want it? God’s shown me how much I want it,” he said. “I've persevered it for nearly two years. Of course I want it. I've shown how much I want it.

“My last proper payday from boxing was 2025. I’ve not had a proper payday since then. Luckily for me, I've stayed in the gym and I've stayed dedicated. I’ve not abused my body. I've not been going out drinking. I've not been doing none of that. I've just been in the gym.”

Those two years have been spent working with Joe Gallagher at the famous Champs Camp in Manchester.

The defeat to Dickens caused Barrett to re-examine his whole approach. He moved up to lightweight and left his uncle and trainer, former British and European junior welterweight champion Pat Barrett.

Gallagher has long been a strong believer in Barrett’s ability and has worked hard to alter his style.

Finally, Barrett can put the frustrations of the past two years behind him. It has taken longer than he expected but he is looking forward to introducing fans to a new, improved version of himself.

“It happens to fighters. They get left in the lurch and then they get an opportunity and they become world champions,” he said. "It happened to Jazza. It happened to Leigh Wood. It happens. After these next three fights I can be a world champion.

“I'll win this fight, win my next fight and then we don't know what's going to happen. The next one after that, it might be a world title shot. Then I'll win that.

“You know boxing, it always happens to people. Someone’s working for an opportunity and then it just happens. Bam, bam, bam, bam."