There can be a desire in sport to avoid piling expectation on the shoulders of young talent. To avoid big claims and predictions, allowing stars to hone their craft, make mistakes and slowly build to a crescendo of medals, records and titles. Others prefer to cannonball straight into the deep end. Speaking earlier this week, Shane McGuigan declared Adam Azim will become a British “superstar”, going down as “one of the best fighters that we've ever had”.

Azim continues the early stages of that journey on Saturday night at the OVO Arena in Wembley when he fights Sergey Lipinets for the IBO light-welterweight title, and he insists he can deliver on his trainer’s bold words. “Of course I can,” Azim tells Standard Sport. “I believe in my ability, I believe in my trainer and the people around me. I’ve got an elite team. A lot of people say things about me - good things, bad things, critical things. I can manage it.”.

The 22-year-old from Slough views a bout with Lipinets, a former IBF world champion, as by far the toughest of his 12-fight professional career to date. At 35, Lipinets brings plenty of experience to the ring, having been in with the likes of Jaron Ennis, Mikey Garcia and Lamont Peterson. Azim made one defence of his European title last year before vacating it, but McGuigan believes he is already “not far off” Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia, two of the biggest names in the sport.

“I definitely agree with what Shane’s saying,” Azim says. "My improvement in the gym has been very, very good. You guys haven’t seen the full package that I can deliver. I’m looking forward to this fight. This is where I elevate myself to the world level and you guys see the class that I have. I think you’ve only seen about 30, 40 per cent. There’s still 60, 70 per cent to go to see me as my full package.”.

Training camp meant that New Year’s Eve brought only an early night for Azim, unable to join his friends on their nights out over the festive period. He has instead found company in the form of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, after it was suggested to him that reading could help him feel increasingly comfortable communicating in interviews. Amir Khan’s autobiography has helped Azim act on that advice while staying in a more familiar world than the one offered by J.K. Rowling.

“I’m trying to improve my English by reading,” he says. “I don’t really like reading. It’s not really my comfort zone. “But to be a better talker, you have to do things outside your comfort zone. As a boxer, this media stuff is part of it when you want to become an elite fighter.”. 2024 was in some ways a frustrating one for Azim. He vacated his European title rather than fulfilling the mandatory requirements by fighting Dalton Smith, and then had a face-off in the ring to seemingly announce a bout with Harlem Eubank, only for that to not materialise either.

Azim had been lined up for a fight on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr’s upcoming showdown with Conor Benn on April 26, but that now appears unlikely. Eddie Hearn has claimed that Azim’s team were offered several different bouts, including Smith, but turned them down. Azim’s promoter Ben Shalom has insisted they accepted a fight with Montana Love, who is promoted by Hearn, for that card, only to then be told that Love had pulled out.

“I’m used to it now,” Azim says in response. “Majority of the time people talk about me it’s a good thing, because I’m living rent free in their heads. “I’ll be honest, I haven’t been looking much into it. I’ve just been focusing on this fight. All these people can talk about me. I haven’t seen much of it, but I know about these talks. “I do want to speak about it, but after this fight. I prefer not to speak about it now.”.

Shalom has spoken of the need for a much-anticipated fight with Smith to happen at the “right time”, but there is surely a danger that in waiting for the perfect opportunity, it never arises. “It’s not really a concern,” Azim insists. “There’s so many fights that I could take now, but it’s about timing and making sure the financials are right. “The time will come. There’s always been times when fights are delayed. Khan vs [Kell] Brook - it took a while but they got it at the end of the day.”.

Would fights against Eubank or Smith not lose something, though, if, as when Brook and Khan finally fought, unbeaten records had fallen and fans had to wait years for it to materialise?. “To be honest, Brook had losses in his career,” Azim says. “Khan had losses. They still developed a great showdown. “At the end of the day, the fights are always there and people always talk about them. If they lose or not, it’s still a massive fight.”.