Their 10-round light heavyweight fight will take place on the undercard of Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson's WBC 175-pound title clash at Manchester’s AO Arena, live on DAZN.

On March 28, Taylor lost his unbeaten record when Hutchinson outboxed him over 10 rounds, and Rea knows exactly how dangerous a wounded animal can be.

Back in November 2022, Rea was widely regarded as one of Britain’s brightest middleweight prospects until a decision defeat to future European champion Tyler Denny cast him into the wilderness.

He stayed there for almost three years until he beat Shakan Pitters over 12 exciting rounds to become the European light heavyweight champion in June 2025.

The 28-year-old from Manchester knows exactly the levels of determination a stinging defeat can trigger.

“For me, it's probably my toughest fight to date, I think,” Rea (22-2, 11 KOs) told The Ring. “I know I'm probably getting Ezra at his most dangerous time. I know firsthand what it's like and the kind of mentality you have when you're coming back from that first loss.

“I have no doubt I'm going to be getting the best version of him. This is what I want but I'm confident that the best version of me will beat the best version of him.”

Rea has impressed since stepping back into the spotlight, and although he lost the European title to his Manchester rival Lyndon Arthur, Rea performed well and dropped the former world title challenger before losing a close split decision. On May 9 he rebounded with a career-best performance and took Liam Cameron apart inside four rounds.

Taylor (13-1, 8 KOs) is already 32 years old and it would be perfectly understandable if the fear of losing a second successive fight provoked him into fighting with an element of desperation.

Rea isn’t expecting that to be the case. Taylor and his trainer Malik Scott got straight back to work after his loss to Hutchinson and it seems unlikely one defeat would force them to make drastic changes to their methodical approach.

“I don't think he's that type of fighter,” Rea said. "I think they'll probably know from my fights, especially my last one, that if you're going to come in with that mentality, this is what can happen. I know he can bang a bit. I'm going to have to be switched on but he knows I can bang a bit too and if he doesn't, he'll find out very quickly in the fight.

“It happens a lot with me. I think people have a look at me and they don't think I’m going to hit quite that hard. I can tell the first time I land clean, the look on their face changes. I think Ezra will get the same.”

Rea has established himself as a major player on the British 175-pound scene over the past 18 months.

He is confident of winning Saturday’s fight and moving onwards and upwards but past experience has taught Rea just how quickly fortunes can change.

“I think it's a fight that none of us can lose because the loser of this, where do we go? Where do we go next? It's a long road,” he said.

“Ezra will have lost two on the bounce then. Where does he go? If I lose, I've lost two out of my last three. Again, it's a long road back, it's a long rebuild which I think is why it makes for such an exciting fight. None of us can afford to lose it.

“I think we're both ready to put it on the line.”