In September, Tom Welland (10-1, 5 KOs) suffered a shocking knockout loss to Mexico's Kevin Herrera (14-3, 7 KOs).

The 21-year-old featherweight from Essex didn’t chase his butterflies away on a low profile, untelevised show. Seven months after suffering his first setback, Welland walked out at London’s famous O2 Arena to open the recent Deontay Wilder-Derek Chisora pay-per-view event.

His four-round decision over Yahir Morales won’t have made any headlines but the win - and the stage he did it on - were absolutely crucial to Welland.

“The reality is, most fighters would have gone on a small hall show and been forgotten. Before I lost I was a big advocate of not taking easy fights, not being on small shows and making sure people saw me so if it went wrong, it went wrong,” he told The Ring.

“I’ve got to keep on that trajectory and actually it would be more detrimental to me, being on a small show. My mentality is whatever will be will be so why should that change where I'm going? It shouldn’t.”

Welland’s loss to Herrera was a genuine upset. He was - and remains - one of the most exciting, interesting youngsters in British boxing.

His mother was born in the Philippines and, at one point, he held hopes of representing the country at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He took part in a training programme with the Olympic team and even received a supportive video message from multi-weight world champion Manny Pacquiao.

When that plan didn’t work out, Welland got on with the job of becoming a professional and his all-action, aggressive style quickly made him the type of prospect capable of stealing a show.

Welland had dropped Herrera and looked on course for a career-best win before getting hit with a fight-ending left hook but rather than panic and rush into a rebuild, he approached things in a calm, considered fashion.

“I was a big believer that early in my career I want to be chucked in the deep end. I want these fights that are going to expose my mistakes, not because I wanted to win these belts as quick as possible but more because I want to be the best fighter I can be quickly,” he said.

“I want someone to show me where I'm going wrong. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean getting knocked out, but if it means taking a tough lesson then it is what it is. Unfortunately that was my tough lesson but as long as I can move on and take from that lesson, then in five years' time it becomes a distant memory.”

Welland’s decision not to deviate from the path he chose at the start of his career shouldn’t be mistaken for a refusal to accept changes were needed. He joined up with a new trainer in Arron Woodcock and has realised that a successful professional needs to learn how to delegate responsibility rather than take too much on his shoulders.

“My job is to wake up in the morning, make sure I'm the best athlete I can be, box to instruction and then get the result,” he said. “There’s other people part of your team that are there to make sure you're the best athlete you can be. The person like your head coach who makes the game plan. The strength and conditioning coach to make sure you’re the strongest you can be. Your nutritionist to make sure you're as filled as you can be. All these things add up whereas I was taking a lot of this onto my own shoulders.”

A late change of opponent means that Welland will box Tanzania's Saleh Kassim (14-6-2, 7 KOs) over 10 rounds at London’s York Hall. DAZN will broadcast the fight which takes place on the undercard of Charlie Edwards’ IBF junior bantamweight final eliminator against South Africa’s Sikho Nqothole.

"I believe that we've made the changes that were needed and it's only gonna make us better," he reiterated.

“Mentally, physically and everything else, I know this will be the best I've felt going into the ring so hopefully it's something that we can build off in the future.”