The 25-year-old from Essex has collected every domestic title within the space of 11 fights yet his climb to the top of the British lightweight division seems to have gone almost undetected.

Already a Southern Area and English champion, in October O’Doherty traveled to Scotland and stopped home favorite, Regan Glackin, in the 10th round of their vacant British 135-pound title fight to complete the set.

It is a remarkable achievement but - for the super fit gymnastics instructor - it is also the result of a carefully executed plan.

“We've done all right. We've got a lot of work to do but we're getting there,” O’Doherty (11-0, 3 KOs) told The Ring with more than a touch of understatement.

“We had a bit of an idea of what we were going to do from the start. We didn't really have a certain amount of fights in mind for the Southern Area title but we said the first chance we get, we'll go for it. We don't really look at the opponent, it’s just getting the belt, really.

“After that, we wanted the English title within 10 fights - which we just about got in our 10th - and the British title within three years. We got it within two and a half years. We went a little bit earlier with that but as the opportunity arose and we weren't going to say no to it.”

O’Doherty’s next step will be interesting.

Over the years, scores of British champions have successfully made the step up to European level. The leap from European to world level, however, can be vast.

O’Doherty doesn’t want his progress to grind to a halt but he is also wise enough to realise that winning the British title provides him with the ideal platform to learn and improve whilst also advancing his world ranking.

Rather than setting deadlines and chasing targets, O’Doherty can now sit at the top of the hill whilst a variety of ambitious youngsters and established veterans take aim at him.

“I'll take whatever they give me, essentially. I feel quite confident as a fighter but I wouldn't mind keeping the British belt so I have to defend it three times,” he said.

“That gives me that experience and a few more 12-rounders, not that I'm worried about 12 rounds, I love 12 rounds, but it gives me the experience on a bigger stage and just to get the gist of the level that I'm fighting at, and then step on.

“Then again, if they said to me, 'Go and fight someone like Shakur Stevenson' I'd take the chance,100%. The confidence is there but I need to step back from that sometimes, take the ego away and think what's the best strategical move for my career.”