“It's a beautiful transition of a name, isn't it?” Fawaz (10-1-1, 3 KOs) told The Ring.

“We're aiming for the British and the Commonwealth titles and they are coming home with us. Then I'll be known as the English, the British and the Commonwealth champion.

“How about that to the name?”

After a troubled start to life in Nigeria, Fawaz was trafficked into the UK as a 14-year-old and forced into domestic servitude. He eventually escaped from the house he was being kept in and taken to social services where he was assigned that identification number.

Entering the system didn’t solve his problems.

During some difficult teenage years, Fawaz was stabbed over 20 times and shot in the leg but those problems pale compared to the legal battles that cost him 16 years of his life as he battled for the right to remain in the UK.

With Nigeria denying him citizenship and the UK refusing to accept he was stateless, Fawaz found himself in limbo.

Unable to work, claim benefits or travel, Fawaz twice found himself in deportation centres.

In 2020, he was finally given leave to remain and work in the United Kingdom and set out to get as much as he could from a delayed boxing career.

The overwhelming majority of people would have been unable to focus on anything other than their legal issues but Fawaz has previously said that throughout his troubles, he held on to a picture of the person he dreamt he would become in future. That picture is finally becoming clearer.

“I am that person because I feel that I don't belong where I am right now,” he said.

“I can tell you that I do not belong where I am. I do things to people in the ring that I shouldn't be doing to them. I need at least three, four sparring partners just to make up rounds because one doesn't last enough for me. For you to know where you want to go, you have to believe that where you are is not where you're supposed to be.”

Despite the turmoil surrounding him, Fawaz always stayed in the boxing gym.

He established a reputation as a skilled, talented amateur and represented England on six occasions but his immigration status cost him the opportunity to represent Great Britain at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

Barry McGuigan and Frank Warren both expressed interest in signing him to professional terms but he was unable to accept any offers or contracts. After finally being given the green light to get his career underway Fawaz struggled to find anybody willing to fight him but now finds himself within touching distance of a significant breakthrough.

He has won Southern Area and English titles and on Saturday night challenges Ishmael Davis (15-3, 6 KOs) for the British and Commonwealth junior middleweight titles.

“The reason why it took me a long time to get here is because I wasn't allowed to work or travel. In the space of three years, look how far we've come. People have been boxing for 10 years and they're still behind me,” he said.

“Look at Ishmael. He’s been boxing for how long? And look where he is right now. I've been boxing [professionally] for three, four years.

“It's not about how many years you have to achieve what you have. It's about how much fire, hunger, desire you have that you don't belong where you are that will get you there. Nothing else matters.

“You will have people tell you, “take it easy, slow down” but they're only speaking from their perspective.

“I tell you, it's not time. It's the willpower, the belief that you don't belong there that will set you apart. I don't belong here. You will see.”

Although the circumstances were totally different, Davis endured a difficult childhood of his own. He fathered twins at just 14 years of age and became deeply involved in street and gang life in Leeds.

He decided that his life needed to change during a spell in prison and has got himself involved in some big fights on high profile cards.

Last November, Fawaz was watching on as Davis broke down in tears after beating Sam Gilley to win the British and Commonwealth titles.

Although he respects Davis’ ability, he believes that the 30-year-old’s reaction to achieving his own dream told it’s own story.

“Ismael is slick, he's good, but he's not good enough because if he was, he would have been British and Commonwealth champion a long time ago. He’s just got it,” he said.

“He knows he don't deserve it because he's falling on the floor crying in the ring like a kid. Where's the dignity? Where's your integrity? You don't kneel down and start crying in the ring because you won the British title. You don't even do that if you win the world title. You swallow your excitement, keep yourself composed.

“So we’ll pick him apart, just like when a butcher is chopping apart a cow - bit by bit - and there's nothing left until the bones. And then we disregard the bone.”