“Listen, bro, there’s nothing that I can do DIY,” laughs Troy Jones. “I’ve got one of my pals here at the minute doing a flat-pack for me, mate. So that’s about as hands-on as I am.”

It is just as well that Jones can still put his hands to some use, and on Saturday, November 1 they will be busy trying to put a dent in Sheffield light heavyweight Liam Cameron.

But despite the defeat, the 27-year-old is unflinching about his future in the sport.  

“It’s a passion,” he said. “Boxing’s never been about money for me. I’ve never been in boxing for money. I had a good career; I had a good job. I’ve never been money-motivated in regards to boxing. I’m just in it because I like to fight, and that’s that. Some people are like manufactured boxers. I’ve been fighting since I was a kid, in the ring, out the ring.”

The job he had before he focused on boxing was in sales, working in an office, and that leads us to our exchange about flat-packed furniture. 

“I’m not a hands-on sort of bloke,” he smiled. “I worked at an accountancy firm for seven, eight years.”

But his future looks busy. On November 1, he boxes on a show featuring four high-profile 175lbs bouts, and the division domestically is so busy that even a defeat would not spell the end of the line for anyone who takes a loss. 

Asked if Cameron had been on his radar for some time, Jones replied: “There’s that many light heavyweights in Britain, we should all be on each other’s radar. We’re all in a lot of similar sort of stages of our careers, so they’ll all be on my radar. All the domestic people in England, in Britain, they’re all going to be on my radar. I don’t want to be surprised if any of them pop up.

“There’s that many people in Britain, we can all just get a crack and have some great domestic fights, give the fans what they want to see. And I’m open for all of them, any of them, anywhere. A good win here puts me in the mix. So [promoter] Frank [Warren] can speak to my manager, and there’s plenty of fights being made with me, and the fans will have some good nights and some good fights to watch.”

Jones had been due to face Daniel Lapin, but the Ukrainian got injured and had to withdraw. In came Cameron.

“A great replacement and yeah, we’re very happy with the opponent for the fight,” said Jones. “I think Liam comes across as a great guy. We haven’t actually crossed paths, but he comes across a good person, doesn’t he?”

Cameron is coming off two significant fights against Ben Whittaker; the first ended in a controversial technical draw and the second finished early when Cameron had no answer for Whittaker’s attacks. 

“The difference in the two fights, I think Ben realized that he can’t stand there and just blow Liam Cameron away, and then Ben made his adjustments and I think that was a difference in the fight,” assessed Jones. “If you look, Ben kept his distance a bit more, was using his lead hand a lot better and I guess maybe his experience at the high level in sparring, in the amateur code, that may have played a part. But I just think Ben made his adjustments and Liam Cameron couldn’t adjust to what he was doing, and I guess that’s it. I guess he realized he couldn’t stand there and trade with Cameron; he’d blow himself out. So he [Whittaker] stuck to his boxing and he got him out of there and he caught him with a good shot.”

Cameron, a former ABA champion, has said Jones will fall short in this, what he believes is a step-up fight for the Birmingham man. 

“He’s going to find that there’s absolutely no way that he’s a bridge too far for me in the slightest,” contended Jones. “So all I can say is we’ll see on November the 1st who’s going to be a bridge too far for him, and that’s going to be me when I’m beating him up in that ring, and that’s about it. If he thinks he’s just going to come forward and push me back, he’s got no chance. He’s got no chance, he ain’t going to be able to push me back in that ring at all. I’ll be on the front foot; I’ll outbox him and I’ll outfight him.” 

Jones stays in Manchester Monday-Friday, where he trains with coach Lee Beard. Even on Saturdays, he drives back up from Birmingham to Stockport for hills and steps running, but he tries to relax the rest of the time. 

He does that with dog walks (he has a Doberman and an XL Bully), and spending time with his wife, whom he married on Sorrento. 

“They’re better than people, these dogs,” he said, adjusting his camera to show me the sleeping dogs on Zoom.

The fight with Cameron, just a few months after the defeat to Taylor, is indicative that the light heavyweight scene is so lively that a loss doesn’t mean the end for a fighter domestically. 

“I think the boxing fans are more interested in good fights,” Jones said. “The Ezra fight was a good fight to watch back. Obviously the scorecards were wide… they shouldn’t have been that wide. But I guess Queensberry enjoyed what they’d seen, because they put me straight back into a good fight. It was with Lapin and now Cameron.

“So, has it [the loss] done me anything negative? No. And I think the fans loved what they’ve seen as well. So, I’m just happy to be in good fights.

“And you’re never going to see me in a boring fight.”

Since the Taylor bout, Jones got back in the win column with a six-rounder against a journeyman on August 30, so he’d been in shape and was just a couple of pounds over the limit for that one. He got married to Demi the week after. 

They’ve known one another since they were kids and have been together for 12 years.

He is fighting to give them a better future, of course, but will go wherever boxing takes him.

“I’ve always said this, I don’t put a ceiling on anything I do. I enjoy the sport,” Jones added. “I’m in the game because I love fighting. So, wherever I get to, I get to. I put 100% in and we’ll see where I end up.

“I won the English title. At the time, that was a great achievement. But you push. In life, you always want to level up from where you are. So, right now, I’m looking at Cameron, then I’ll be looking at the next fight and the next fight. So, I don’t put no pressure on myself in regards to the ceiling. I don’t think I’ve got to do this. I just train 100% at all times. I love fighting, and we’ll see where I end up. It’s going in the right direction, but I’m not money-motivated or anything like that. I’m in the game because I love to fight and I want to give boxing fans what they love to see, and that’s it.” 

As positive as Jones sounds, he admits there has been a sense of sadness in the gym.

Beard is one of Ricky Hatton’s former coaches, and he trains Jones in the gym that belonged to the late boxing star.

“We trained in his gym since maybe January, February,” said Jones. “I met Ricky, most weeks he was in the gym. What a guy, mate. He’s great. If you didn't know who he was, you’d just think he was just a normal down-to-earth fella. He'd come in the gym, have a crack, have a laugh. At first, you’d be like, ‘Oh, it’s Ricky.’ But then he’s just a normal guy, mate. And a real legend he was. So he leaves a big hole in the boxing world and with anyone else that he met as well, which is a shame.”

The sport has been grieving since Hatton’s loss, and Ricky was so close to so many people in the gym who work there every day.

“Of course, the atmosphere always changes,” Jones admitted. “It always changes. Yeah. It's just a real bad loss, mate. Of course, people in the gym knew him a lot longer and were a lot closer. I guess it would have hit them a lot more. So just seeing them sad bothered me. It just wasn't a nice thing to see.”

There is a clear sense of sadness and loss in Jones’ voice, but with his mind back on the task at hand, he is encouraged at the prospect of showing what he can do against Cameron. But he shares more in common with Hatton than just a gym, it’s the thrill of the fight and how he embraces fight week. There are no pre-fight anxieties.

“I love to fight,” Jones said. “To be getting paid, to be doing something I love, having big crowds there, like, what’s going on now? How can I be fearful for that? So fight week and up until I’m in that ring, mate, I’m buzzing. I can’t wait for it. I love the media days, I love talking. Bring it on. I just can’t wait for it.”