A few hours had passed since their man had been dropped and stopped by Azim inside three punch-perfect rounds at the Arena but they were still in shock by what had happened.

Nobody had ever done that to Claggett before, not even Teofimo Lopez, and Azim’s performance confirmed what they had been told during the build-up.

“I’m not much of a party boy so for my celebration I just had two or three smash burgers in a restaurant in Wembley,” Azim tells The Ring.

“Afterwards me and my wife were just walking along and she noticed Claggett’s team all sitting around a table at a bar. When they saw me they came to the door and we had a nice chat.

“His coach said to me that in all his years of training, nobody has ever done that to Steve Claggett. That’s what he said. He was very shocked, he said I had shocked them all.

“He said they had all come to London to win but that I’m a world-class fighter and that I’d be world champion. He said I’m miles better than Teofimo Lopez.”

The opportunity to outdo Lopez, The Ring’s current No. 4-rated junior-welterweight, was one of the main upsides to fighting Claggett, a veteran of 50 fights when he arrived in London.

Lopez had not impressed over the 12 rounds against the Canadian in 2024 but Azim showed him how it should be done, dazzling off the back foot against the marauding visitor, who had not been stopped since 2011.

“It just felt like a superpower coming from me,” Azim said of his performance. “There were shots coming from every angle. He was just running at me, throwing every shot, which is probably the worst mistake any fighter can make against me.

“When I see a lot of shots, it’s easier for me to time my counters.”

Azim, who is currently ranked No. 7 by the IBF, had hoped that an impressive victory would put him in line for a shot at their 140-pound title, which is currently vacant.

However those plans appear to have been ruined by the IBF's decision to order their No. 1 contender Lindolfo Delgado to face No. 5 Arthur Biyarslanov for the vacant strap.

But Azim, who moved from No. 9 to No. 7 in the most recent Ring ratings, said: “I don't think anyone is really interested to put that fight out, there's no interest in that fight between Delgado and Biyarslanov.

“Maybe we can have discussions with the IBF to see if I can get that fight instead, that would be great. But I just let my team do the negotiation, because I don't really know what's next for me.

“It is all a bit muddy with the IBF situation now. If I had fought Gustavo Lemos in January before we both got injured then I would have been ordered to have fought Delgado by now.

“I just really want to get my hands on a world title now. I think I will be back out again in September or October and then we will have another one in January before Ramadan in February.”