Welsh boxer Taylor Bevan is promising excitement as he prepares to make his professional debut in Birmingham on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Commonwealth Games silver medallist is on the undercard of the flyweight showdown between Sunny Edwards and Galal Yafai.
Bevan stepped away the GB Boxing programme in the summer after missing out on the Paris Olympics.
He says he left with ‘”no regrets” and is now where he always wanted to be.
“I’ve always had aspirations about turning pro,” he told BBC Sport Wales. “I can’t say the same about going to the Olympics.
“I gave it 100% to try to get there, but it wasn’t to be. After not qualifying I decided it was the right time to turn pro.”
Bevan prepared to be patient
Bevan believes he is the right age for this new chapter of his career and believes coming from the amateurs with an Olympic medal is an advantage, but he is keen to stress that he is in this for the long haul.
He will be patient, stay active and hope to slowly, but surely, build his reputation.
“You can generally be fast-tracked a bit more when you’ve got an Olympic medal,” Bevan concedes.
“But for me I’m hopefully going to do the traditional route: win the British and Commonwealth [titles] and work my way up that way.”
After his two-and-a-half years on the British programme in Sheffield, Bevan signed with Matchroom.
Following a 10-week camp he will take on Greg O’Neill in their super middleweight contest at bp pulse LIVE arena on Saturday night.
The card’s main event sees former world champion Sunny Edwards take on Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Galal Yafai, with both men eyeing the WBC flyweight world title.
For Bevan it marks a return to Birmingham, the city which saw the highlight of his amateur career: a silver medal for Wales at 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Bevan a ‘tremendous prospect’
His connection to the Welsh programme – and in particular head coach Colin Jones – saw him opt to return to the Welsh capital to train, despite having offers to train elsewhere.
“He’s been a tremendous prospect, even when he came on as a youth,” former British, Commonwealth and European champion Jones says.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Taylor Bevan. It’s a big difference fighting over three rounds then jumping to six. I think it’ll suit him. He’s a very fit lad.
“He’s made a big commitment moving down to Cardiff – he’s paid up [his rent] for 12 months and he’s expecting to be in the game for quite some time.
“I’m sure you’ll hear big things about Taylor.”
Bevan believes he can turn heads in the pro game after impressing in his short time on the British programme.
“I was in very exciting fights as an amateur and I would expect even more so in the pros,” he says.
“At GB they do an awards night every year and the two years I was there I won ’bout of the year’, which isn’t such a good thing as you want easy fights!
“But I’m in exciting fights, I can say that.”
