Unbeaten lightweight contender Josh Padley received a life changing phone call at home on Tuesday evening.

The 29-year-old Yorkshireman was informed by manager, Tom Stalker, himself a former lightweight boxer, that Floyd Schofield was unable to face WBC 135-pound titlist Shakur Stevenson, and he was being offered the opportunity to step in at late notice.

"It's actually been quite quiet since I won the Mark Chamberlain fight," Padley (15-0, 4 knockouts) told The Ring. "We've not really had too many solid offers and in the past week we've had three, all seem to have got bigger than the one before it.

"One of them was Maxi Hughes and we were umming and ahing, then Dalton [Smith] came, and we were umming and ahing and then this came Tuesday night at about 6 p.m. we got the first call."

That lead to a series of frantic events that needed to be completed.

"I had to text my gaffer that night, but by the time the fight got finalized it was 10:20 p.m.," he revealed. "He didn't receive it until the next morning, and he rang me and said, 'You're not going to turn down opportunities like that, Josh. Go and grab it with both hands.'"

"I had a manic morning after the fight got over the line. It was straight on to my nutritionist, Charlie, to make sure we can do the weight safely on such short notice and he gave me the green light. We had a little check weight and discussion with the team prior to taking the fight. We had to run around and do one little thing on my medical that morning then we had to do the check weight at 1:20 p.m., once the check weight had been completed, we could book the flights jump in the car and head down to Manchester airport. Flew at 5 p.m. to Türkiye, four hours to Istanbul and four hours over to Riyadh. Very, very fast turnaround.”

By day, Padley is an electrician, installing solar panels, but by night he transforms into a boxer.

"My employer are quite good," he said. "Before the Mark Chamberlain fight, I said, 'I'll work as hard as I can and I'm a good worker, you'll never have any trouble with me but if the time comes this is my second priority, boxing is my first priority.' They were fully aware of that and took a chance on me and low and behold the Mark Chamberlain fight came off. I had 8 weeks off.

"I do keep my eye in the gym, I wouldn't have been able to take the fight if I wasn't in decent shape. I do spar once or twice a week, even out of camp. Just technical, southpaw, some orthodox, just staying ready for anything."

This isn't the first time Padley will step into the ring as a rank outsider.

Last September, Padley faced touted prospect Mark Chamberlain on the undercard of Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua at Wembley Arena, London.

"The Mark Chamberlain fight, I think I were my nana got me 16/1 on points," said Padley, who dropped his favored countryman and won a surprising 10-round unanimous decision. "Most of my supporters backed me at 10s and 12s/ 1, so they all got a nice drink out of it.

"Again, going in as the underdog. No pressure on my behalf, everybody is already expecting me to lose and writing me off before I've even got in there again, so I've got everything to gain again."

Coming in at late notice isn't ideal but it was an opportunity too good to turn down.

"A bit rushed as you can probably imagine, it's been a very, very hectic couple of days," he said. "It's been a bit of a whirlwind, but we're getting there now.

"I'm excited to see where I am with regards fighting a world class technician, some even say he's on the pound-for-pound list. It would have been nice to have a full camp, but four days’ notice will have to do. That'll have to be the test. I'm absolutely buzzing for it. Seeing how things go."