It is March 2018 and an undefeated Kieron Conway is preparing for the type of early test that can harshly dictate which way a youngster's career will go.

Then 6-0, Conway had agreed to fight Chris 'Fat Boy' Monaghan, an ambitious youngster who had lost around 85 pounds in weight and came to the ring with a 6-1-1 record and dreams of his own. A world away away from the bright lights and cameras, Conway passed the test with a seventh-round stoppage.

15 months later, he drew with Ted Cheeseman when challenging for the British junior middleweight title. He's since boxed on two Canelo Alvarez undercards stateside and on May 17, stopped Gerome Warburton in four rounds to finally become British champion in his new divisional home at 160-pounds.

'Fat Boy' never boxed again.

This weekend, Conway (23-3-1, 7 KOs) headlines a DAZN broadcast when defending his British and Commonwealth titles against the exciting George Liddard (12-0, 7 KOs) at London's York Hall.

"It feels like it's been forever," Conway told The Ring.

"From fighting in hotels, the little theatres and stuff away from the cameras, yeah it's crazy. I guess for me, it was always in the vision. For anybody else, it would have been hard to believe definitely."

Conway is still only 29-years-old but has crammed more than most into his career so far.

In May 2021, Canelo stopped Billy Joe Saunders in front of a huge 73,000 crowd at AT&T Stadium in Texas. As the cavernous arena began to fill up, Conway dropped a 10-round split decision defeat to world-class French operator Souleymane Cissokho.

The following year, he was outboxed over ten rounds by Austin 'Ammo' Williams on the undercard of a trilogy bout between Canelo and Gennadiy Golovkin in Las Vegas.

Lots of fighters would have faded away after the Williams defeat, unable to rouse themselves to make the long, arduous climb back to the top level a third time.

Conway didn’t go anywhere. Since then, he's racked up five consecutive wins and arguably looked better than ever during the four rounds he spent dismantling Warburton. Should he beat Liddard this weekend, he will have earned another chance at the big time.

"I think each fight I'm showing a little bit more and I'm nowhere near my physical peak yet. I do think that the best is still yet to come," he said.

"I do like to learn from each fight, each win and each loss because I always say you're never as good as your wins and you're never as bad as your losses so you just have to go back and have a look with that eye.

"A lot of people go out, watch their wins and only what they're doing good. Even when they're watching their losses, they're trying to find things they've done good but I'm looking at everything and watch it many, many times looking for different things. I think that's why I'm looking better each fight."

For a time, Conway believed he would be fighting for the European middleweight title before the end of 2025 but having worked so hard dragging himself back to prominence, he hasn’t allowed his focus to waver throughout the build-up to this weekend’s fight.

The self-assured Liddard has so far passed every test that has come his way. He has blown away lower-calibre opposition but also showed a willingness to bite down on his mouthpiece and grind out a win, when the solid Derrick Osaze survived an early attack in dragging him through 10 hard rounds.

Conway however, represents a significant step up in level for the 23-year-old. Not only is he physically and technically the best fighter Liddard has boxed as a professional, he is also fiercely determined to push on to bigger and better things.

"The only reason that I can think of why they would take this fight right now is that they'll see it as, 'If I lose then I lost against Conway, the British champion. He's fought on two Canelo cards, done this and that, been around forever,'" Conway said.

"He probably sees it as a little bit of a lower risk to lose to me because you've got all the excuses already there. Other than that, I can't think why they would choose this fight.

"Not that I'm overlooking him by any shot. I know he's young, fresh, fast, hungry. I’m confident in myself but think he's a little bit too overconfident."