He won that night, outboxing Jan Ardon (2-4) over four three-minute rounds but Hedges (12-0, 3 KOs) cringes whenever he sees any footage.

“When I look back at those videos of when I first turned pro, I can’t believe it,” he tells The Ring. “I don't even think anyone should have let me in the ring to be honest with you.

“I looked like I was about 12 years old and I was awful. I remember it well and it was absolutely awful, to be fair.

“But it's part of the bigger picture, isn't it? What I learned in the first years after turning pro was just about what it takes to be a pro boxer.”

Given it was October 2020 when he made that professional bow, Hedges was one of the boxers who had to take their first steps exclusively inside Covid bubbles, without fans and without any atmosphere whatsoever.

“I was learning on the job,” he adds. “And I learned a lot about myself and a lot about boxing generally. Ultimately, without those early years as a pro, I might not be here now. I had a bit of backlash early doors but we've got through it and now I look back and I think that's probably mentally prepared me for what's to come.”

After his debut, Hedges boxed three times in both 2021 and 2022 before his activity levels dropped. There was just one outing in the whole of 2023 and a total of eight rounds in 2024.

But things picked up in 2025 as he registered the two most significant victories of his career, beating both Nathan Quarless and Ellis Zorro on points over 10 rounds, as he won and then defended the English cruiserweight title.

It was his position as English champion that paved the way for his next fight, when he will face Matchroom’s undefeated starlet Pat Brown (6-0, 6 KOs) for the vacant British and Commonwealth titles on September 19 at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena, live on DAZN.

Despite having had twice as many professional fights as Brown, the 2024 Olympian, Hedges has been priced as a 9/2 underdog. The Essex man has kept a close eye on Brown’s transition from elite amateur to professional contender and has been impressed with what he has seen.

But now he hopes that an upset victory over Brown, who is two years his senior, will earn him similar plaudits.

“It’s quite simple to me,” he says. “When I beat him, I should take his place. That’s pretty much how I see it.

“I’ve been hearing all this talk of him being able to fight Jai Opetaia within 12 months, fighting for world titles and all the rest of it. So the way I see it, this fight is about the winner should take it all.

“I think I'm a big banana skin and I wouldn’t be overlooking me if I was Pat. I don’t believe he has done that and that's why this fight is a cracker.”

Hedges is not currently ranked within the top 15 with any of the four major sanctioning bodies while Brown is up at No. 7 with the IBF after stopping Vasil Ducar in April.

“That was one of those things we found crazy,” Hedges says. "When you actually look at his record it’s thin. He beat Ducar, fair play, but that was his eighth defeat.

“He's been a great opponent for all good contenders but he's never beaten one of them. No disrespect to Ducar but every time he has boxed someone of a level, he's been beat.

“I think he's a decent fighter, but at the same time, how you get a world ranking off that, I do not know.

“All I know is that once I beat him on September 19 I want that ranking. I’ll be in a great position in a division that’s booming.”