The South African super flyweight’s dad – a former fighter who is currently in prison – first took him to the boxing gym when he was just three years old and his budding career prevented him from making some of the decisions his peers did that took them down the wrong path.

He explained to Boxing News magazine: “When you are young, you’re just excited to go with your parents and just to get out of the house.

“So, for me, it was kind of exciting going out of the house and to play in the gym. It was kind of playful and then I met my amateur coach, I think, at about six or seven years old.

“I’ve been boxing all my life. Boxing taught me how to carry myself.

“Some people that I grew up with are in jail, some are dead right now.

“So, knowing I didn’t go down that road, it kind of felt amazing because I knew I have a career to protect.

“I have a reputation to protect, so I can’t do what everyone else does.”

But the WBO champion – who turned professional in 2018 – admitted he didn’t avoid trouble completely.

He said: “I’ve been involved in fights, I’ve stabbed people, I’ve been stabbed.

"That’s what happens when you grow up in the hood. So, yeah, man, I’ve faced those challenges. You’ve got to in the hood.

“We say that only the toughest survive. It’s a jungle, that’s all I can say, man.

“It was very tough growing up. I had to prove myself on the streets.

“I can’t tell you everything that happens on the street, I can’t go to my mom and tell her, ‘oh this happened or this happened’.

“So, I had to be my own man on the street and make sure I earned my respect.”