Brown (9-0, 4 KOs) turned professional back in 2015 but badly injured his hand during his debut.

The Glaswegian lost his way during the resulting lay-off and things began to spiral rapidly. He fell into addiction and was eventually jailed for assault.

Brown is now in recovery and has been clean for years. He may be 34 years old but has racked up six impressive wins since returning to the ring, while being better physically and mentally than at any point over the last decade.

On April 17, he will fight former British 154-pound title challenger Sam Gilley on the undercard preceding Cristobal Lorente vs. Nathaniel Collins II for the former's European featherweight title, live and exclusively on DAZN.

Taylor spent years training alongside Brown when they were members of the Team GB amateur setup. He is a firm believer in Brown's ability and is sure that he can still make a serious impact as a professional.

"He can fight," Taylor told The Ring.

"It's taken a lot of time away from him but he's not done any sort of damage to himself. Because he's not really been in boxing for that period of time, he’s not been taking any damage to his body, putting mileage on it with physical hard training and sparring, so his body is kind of still fresh and his mind is as well.

"It's probably also refocused him. He’s got to make the most of it now."

Brown can't afford to tread water. Gilley represents a significant step up in class but it is the type of fight Brown will have to take if he is to compete at the sharp end of the middleweight division.

He is more than happy to do so.

Taylor knows just how important momentum is. He took no sideways steps on his way to the undisputed title and knows that Brown is going to have to snatch every opportunity he is given.

"He knows that time is precious now but I think that the other middleweights in the country are going to want to avoid him because of the last performances he's put on," Taylor said.

"He's a tough fighter and a hard, tough man who won't take any s—t from no one so I think he's going to be an avoided fighter."