Trainer Tunde Ajayi is excited about the potential of his charge, Joel Kodua, but he’s remaining patient and wants the welterweight to progress steadily.

Ajayi works with light heavyweight contender Anthony Yarde, and he’s had both talents for years.

“I’m really excited about Joel, another fighter that I’ve literally trained from scratch,” said Ajayi.

“Nobody was looking at him, nobody paid attention to him. You know, much like Anthony, he only had 12 amateur fights. And it’s really incredible for me to really see the journey being unfolded again, proving that we have something, taking kids and making them or competing with guys that have been boxing since they’re six, seven years old. And so I’m really excited about Joe, very good pedigree in terms of his family, good support, his brother’s a professional footballer at West Ham, currently blowing up for Luton.

“It’s all good.”

Veteran Yarde has famously had three world title tries, against Sergey Kovalev, Artur Beterbiev and David Benavidez last year.

Kodua, from Dagenham in Essex, is 10-0 (2 KOs) and 29 years old, defeating 10-0 Daniel Francis and 11-0 Bobby Dalton in his last two fights. Tonight, at London’s Copper Box Arena, he faces 9-2-3 Joe Garside.

Those two results stand out, but Ajayi said it’s experience that Kokua needs most.

“For me, it's always the same thing, and it will never change, because you're taking someone from the embryonic stages of their career, it's just experience,” Ajayi said, asked what Kodua needed.

“I know what, ultimately what I teach will always, always, and we've seen it with Anthony, get them to that level. And so it's just about getting the fights. Activity is very, very important for Joel, lacking the amateur experience. I just think that the more fights you see, the better. Joel has, unlike most professionals, taken two unbeaten scalps in his 10 fights. “He’s walked away with three belts already. And that’s not normal. So Saturday night, I expect him to dominate.”

It's cliché for a coach to say their boxer can “go all the way” and Ajayi is loath to follow that template. Instead, he wants to see Kodua take gradual steps, learning and improving on the way. 

“I think when you've been at the top of the mountain, you actually know what it takes,” Ajayi added. “With those trainers, what's lyrical about fighters, their fighters are going all the way, I know it's always the mentality. And anyone who's seen me in the gym knows that I push these guys to the limit. But I have to say, Joel Kodua can take it. He can take it. And for fighters, it's not ultimately what you can dish out, it’s what you can take.

“And he's very, very tough mentally. So I expect him to go a long way in the sport of boxing. “I'm not going to say world champion. I'm going to say step by step. He himself has navigated his own career in terms of he wants to do it the traditional route, which he's done already. Southern Area [title], he's become the English champion, this is a Commonwealth eliminator, [he wants to be] British champion, European champion and then ultimately a world champion. So step by step. Next is the English. The next is British.”