That night, February 28 at Vaillant Live Arena, Ursu became the first Moldova-born British champion when he clearly outpointed once-beaten Owen Cooper in their clash for the vacant welterweight title.

Before the fight, Ursu had told The Ring about his journey from Chisinau to that opportunity in Derby. And the southpaw seized it with both hands, producing one of the best performances of his career on his night in the “shop window” on DAZN. So how did he celebrate such a momentous victory?

“Celebrate?” he asks, dumfounded. “For what? I didn’t celebrate anything. Why would I? I think I had a McDonalds afterwards, that’s about it. We went back to Plymouth, and we spoke about the next fight. Nothing changed.”

It was not that Ursu was not pleased with his performance and the victory that it secured, but rather that he only ever saw it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

Indeed, within a few days, Ursu was back in London to sign a promotional contract with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, which had been behind the event headlined by his victory over Cooper.

Not only did that move provide Ursu with a solid plan for the next couple of years but also meant, for the first time ever, he actually made some money from the sport.

“I signed a three-fight deal,” Ursu says. “Which is good. The feeling was good for me. But it was strange, because in the back of my head I thought I’d never get paid for fighting in my life. I’d had 14 fights before Cooper, and I earned zero pounds.

“But then, when I was given some money, it felt awkward for me, like it wasn’t real. Almost as if I was cheating. I looked at the money in my bank account and asked, ‘Am I allowed to touch this?’ I asked if I spend this money, will anyone say anything about it? They tell me, ‘Yes, it’s yours.’

“It’s good because now I can just focus on getting better. Before, every penny I made I would invest in boxing. If we make any money, we invested it all into boxing.”

Finally that initial outlay is starting to pay dividends for Ursu and long-time coach Marlee Dean, who have grafted for years under the radar in Plymouth.

On Saturday night, he will face fellow southpaw Ben Vaughan at 02 Arena in the first defense of his British title and third of his Commonwealth strap on the undercard of the event headlined by Moses Itauma against Filip Hrgovic.

Ursu and Dean usually spend much of training camp driving to and from London for sparring, but they went even further afield this time, with much of their preparation done in Thailand.

“It has been very good,” says Ursu, who speaks to The Ring on his penultimate day in the country. “Today I did 12 rounds of sparring with two different opponents, 30 seconds rest, then after that sprints, and all done in the heat. It has been a hard camp, but I don't even feel like I'm in a training camp. It feels like a holiday.

“Tyson Fury has been training over here, and I can understand why. I didn’t see him this time, but actually we have been training with his trainer Sifu [McInnes]. When he saw me he said, ‘Wow, you will become world champion’. He said he phoned Frank Warren and told him that. He thinks I could smash light heavyweights. He says I have the power, skills and brain to do so. He even compared me to Thomas Hearns.

“These are good compliments, and I cant wait to prove him right.”