On Saturday night the light heavyweight contender boxes Liam Cameron at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena. A win will open up lots of exciting opportunities for the 28-year-old, who knows exactly where defeat could lead him.

Back in November 2022, Rea was on a good run of form before losing a unanimous decision to future European middleweight champion Tyler Denny. Rather than being brought back at a good level and allowed to rebuild, Rea was unfairly cast aside and spend the best parrt of three years in the wilderness.

He spent the time wisely.

He left Manchester, moved to Andy Abrol’s Sharpstyle gym in Blackpool and built his way into the 175-pound division. Finally, an opportunity presented itself and Rea snatched it by beating Shakan Pitters to become the European champion.

That win earned Rea a promotional deal with Queensberry and last November, he was matched with former world title challenger Lyndon Arthur. Despite dropping his Manchester rival, Rea lost an exciting 12-round majority decision.

Rea holds much more sway than after the Denny defeat but will never forget just how hard it was to drag himself back to relevance last time.

"We know what boxing's like. It can be a bit of a brutal sport. We've seen the effect that a loss can have on your career. If I drop two on the bounce, I'm just an opponent then for the rest of my career," he told The Ring.

"I feel like I'm in a position where I can get a bit of backing and can be built a bit. I want to be able to headline shows in Manchester and if I lose this next fight, that's out of the window for me."

Boxing on the Fabio Wardley-Daniel Dubois undercard presents Rea with the ideal stage to re-establish himself on and couldn't have chosen a better opponent. Initially, he accepted a fight offer to box the tricky, technical Zach Parker. Instead, he will meet the ever-popular fan favorite Cameron.

"I didn't want an easy touch to get back to winning ways. I wanted to get back in there at a good level. If I beat Liam it really pushes me back up there where I belong," he said.

"How can you not like Liam? He's got a great story and a lovely guy but he's in my way and for 10 rounds, I'm gonna try and knock him out. It's as simple as that."

Rea knows that it is absolutely crucial that he wakes up on Sunday morning wondering who he will fight next rather than worrying about if and when he will be given another opportunity.

Standing at around 6-feet-4, Rea boxed for England as an amateur and is effective when he decides to keep things straight and long. If he boxes smartly and sensibly, the aggressive Cameron may find it hard to close the distance.

Rea is a smart enough fighter to identify the most straightforward route to victory but also admits that, at some point, pragmatism will go out of the window and he will dig his toes into the canvas and fight.

"It’s tough. You need the best of both worlds don't you?" he laughed. "I need to be in fan-friendly fights but also getting my hand raised at the end of the day.

"I look for it in every fight. Everybody I’m in with, I try and knock them out. That’s the name of the game and what people want to see, that's what puts bums on seats. I know if I go into every fight with the mentality that it isn't going the distance, people like it. I'm a boxing fan myself and that's what people wanna watch."