Manchester’s Pat Brown has yet to make his professional debut but the 25 year-old already looks like being one of British boxing’s most notable stories of 2025.

Brown is clearly a popular figure. He attracted 300 fans into Manchester city centre on a cold, wet winter’s night for a hastily arranged ‘An Evening With…’ event to announce his deal with Matchroom Boxing and tickets for his professional debut - which will headline the 2,500 capacity Altrincham Ice Arena on March 28th - figure to be extremely difficult to come by.

The 2024 Olympian is training at the VIP Gym in Astley with Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis, who spent time working with him when he was an amateur, and will fight at cruiserweight.

Moore acknowledges that Brown is being given an almost unprecedented welcome to the professional ranks but understands exactly why Matchroom have gone down the path they have.

“I think the reason why they're doing it is because watching all the tremendous fighters that have come through the GB programme over the past couple of years, Pat has stood out as one of the fighters who has got massive potential turning pro,” he told The Ring.

“It’s a proud moment obviously for Nigel. He’s got him, he's got Conor Tudsbury turning pro as well and then I've got my first amateur turning over as well. So it's like a different new era coming through for the gym so I'm buzzing. It’s refreshing.”

Moore enjoyed one of British boxing’s most exciting careers. The former British, Commonwealth and European super welterweight champion was involved in some of the most memorable domestic battles of the early 2000’s. He probably left a little too much of himself in the ring during his memorable fights with Matthew Macklin, Michael Jones and Ryan Rhodes and was forced to retire without ever getting a deserved world title shot.

Since becoming a trainer, Moore has worked with a whole host of top level talent.

Fighters like Carl Frampton, Jack Catterall, Marc Leach and Cameron Vuong are skilful, well-rounded boxers who are more than capable of digging in and having a fight if the situation demands it but like to establish their range and then dominate and break down an opponent before stepping in to finish the job.

The Mancunian treats every fighter who commits themselves to life in his gym as family but Brown is a fighter after his own heart and the idea of letting him loose on the cruiserweight scene has stirred something inside him.

“He not only can fight, he loves to fight,” Moore said.

“There's a difference. Some people can fight but their heart's not in it, do you know what I mean? This kid, he's got everything, but he actually wants to go and have a tear up.

“Probably the hardest part of our job is going to be protecting him from himself and making sure he does it at the right time, in the right places and that, defensively, he looks after himself in between it.

“I'm excited. We've had a lot of defensively good fighters, you know, sharpshooters from the outside. I'm looking forward to being involved with a fighter who's going to be aggressive and ferocious and we've got to sort of hold him back. Probably the last time we had this was Tommy Coyle, where he just loves going in there and having a tear up.

“But I think Pat is more refined. Tommy was just an out and out brawler like Rocky Balboa. Pat’s got an engine, he's quite cute, he's smart, he's been around the world with GB.

“He's had a lot of experience in the amateur scene and that will transfer but he's much more suited to the professionals.”

Manchester is a real fight city but it is crying out for somebody to take it by the scruff of the neck.

The heyday of Ricky Hatton ended a long-time ago and whilst the city has produced a number of quality fighters like Terry Flanagan, Zelfa Barrett and Lyndon Arthur since ‘The Hitman’ retired, former WBA lightweight champion, Anthony Crolla, was the last local fighter to capture the imagination of the fans and take up residency at the famous old M.E.N Arena [although the famous venue has had a number of sponsors over the years and is currently known as the AO Arena, no true Mancunian would ever dream of calling it anything over than ‘The M.E.N’].

Although they will always turn out for big nights and major events, it takes a certain type of personality and style to truly catch on with Manchester’s fight fans. Hatton and Crolla provided proof positive that the right fighter can cross the United-City divide that separates the football mad, working class city and create something special.

Times could be about to change. The recently opened Co-Op Live Arena has just opened on the outskirts on the city centre and seems to be trying to take on the mantle as the home of Manchester boxing.

Conveniently, there are a whole host of young, exciting fighters with the potential to move a good number of tickets and attract championships level fights to the biggest indoor arena in Europe for years to come.

Travis has known Brown and his family for years and believes that he has exactly what it takes to mobilise Manchester’s fight fans and spearhead the new movement.

“I genuinely believe it's the personality. That's what got Ricky in there, definitely,” he said.

“Ricky was a man of the people and this kid, similarly, will be a man of the people. His roots are so important to him.

“The fact that he came from Sale West Amateur Boxing Club, Moss Side Fire Station. That's what he's very, very proud of.

“He genuinely is a man - a boxer - of the people and he'll certainly want to surround himself with that, with these communities. That's what he's very proud of."

“I suppose it's a bit of a misquote that pressure makes diamonds but this kid can fight,” he continued. “Fundamentally - and regardless of all them clichés - this kid can properly fight. So I believe that even though he's not a bad talker as well, his fists will do his talking.

“I genuinely believe that.”