It was the type of thankless, hard night’s work that will only register with people who spend their spare time flicking through BoxRec.

The middleweight scored a solid ninth-round stoppage, got right back to the gym and waited to be given his next piece of work.

The phone rang with his biggest job offer yet.

Goldsmith (15-1, 10 KOs) said "yes" and this weekend he will fight former British middleweight champion, Brad Pauls (21-2-1, 12 KOs), at Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium. DAZN will broadcast the action.

“I've been patient. I've lived and breathed the gym. I’ve stayed on it with the vision that it's all going to be worth it. In my own deluded head, I knew something would come,” Goldsmith told The Ring.

“If you were to ask me what, when, who or where, I wouldn't have been able to answer that because I'm not that magic.

“Especially coming off my win back in March, I just knew if I stayed ready in the gym then this year would kind of work out for me. Obviously, the proof's in the pudding and that's happened.”

The night after Goldsmith beat Byfield, Pauls enjoyed a far more high profile win when he beat Shakiel Thompson.

Before the fight, Thompson had been named as a mandatory challenger for the vacant IBF middleweight belt but insisted on fighting Pauls anyway.

Pauls was outboxed for eight rounds but, refusing to play the role he had been cast in, maintained his belief and ruined Thompson’s plans with a ninth-round stoppage.

This weekend, Pauls plays the role of favorite and Goldsmith, 27, has been given the chance to take everything he has earned.

“He could probably be a little bit upset, to be honest,” Goldsmith said.

“I dare say, if Shakiel won — and this is no disrespect towards me, I'm just real — I don't think they'd have been looking at people like me to fight Shakiel.

“I'm just glad that it's come off. It's a fantastic opportunity, a fantastic platform and a fight I'm more than confident in winning. That's the most important part for me.”

Goldsmith’s confidence is partly based on the work he has been doing in the gym and partly on the fact that he knows what to expect on Saturday night.

Last April, Goldsmith was given his first chance to perform on a major stage when he boxed on a Boxxer undercard, live on Sky Sports.

He controlled the first half of his local derby with Troy Coleman but punched himself out trying to force a sixth-round finish. Coleman bravely bit down on his mouthpiece and stopped Goldsmith in the seventh.

“I think every fighter needs to go through that,” he said.

“Looking back, that loss was probably my biggest blessing in the sense of it almost does make you go back and reassess quite a lot of things. When it comes down to it, it was just a lack of experience on my end in thinking someone was more hurt than what they were, probably playing into the crowd a bit too much and not focusing so much on the fight, focusing about the other things.”

Considering he will be walking out to face a world-ranked fighter in a busy football stadium on Saturday night, the knowledge of what went right and, crucially, what went wrong will be exceptionally helpful this weekend.

“It's put me in good stead," said Goldsmith. "I've had three good wins since then. I had a title fight last time out, I've got another title fight coming up so it's like I've not come back and gone straight into gimmies or gimmicks. I want to prove myself in fights like this.”

Goldsmith is a southpaw and can take heart from the fact that Pauls has lost to Tyler Denny and given trouble by Thompson, but beating the aggressive, determined Cornishman isn’t simply a case of boxing, moving and staying away from his heavy hands.

The 33-year-old has the very useful habit of being able to force his opponents into fighting his type of fight but those who have been able to utilise a touch of movement and elusiveness have enjoyed success.

Goldsmith hasn’t made the mistake of convincing himself that Pauls is one dimensional.

“Sometimes that’s really all you need in boxing," he said. "I’m not gonna beat around the bush, going into this I’m gonna be a massive underdog. Not many people know me. Not many people have probably even heard of me to be honest but that’s gonna probably work in my favour on fight night.

“All I’ll say is that a lot of people are gonna know and remember me after the fight and to me, that’s all that matters.”