Budding prospect Adam Azim reckons he could become a world champion even quicker than Amir Khan, who picked up his first title at just 22 years of age.
Azim didn't bother with the Olympic route like his idol Khan, instead opting to turn professional at just 18. And he is flying through the ranks, finishing a fantastic 2022 with a vicious second-round knockout of Rylan Charlton, one of the toughest fighters just beneath British level.
The knockout was Azim's fifth of the year, all of which came against opponents with winning records, which is a rare feat for a young prospect coming through the ranks. He is keen to get his hands on a British title as well as the Commonwealth belt over the next year, before eventually getting to a world title fight before he turns 22 in July 2024.
"A lot of people didn't expect me to do that to Rylan," Azim told Mirror Fighting . "Obviously I broke him down, placed the shots right and got the explosive knockout that I needed. My left hand work is brilliant, Rylan tried coming at me but if you stand off and don't attack me during the fight it's easier for me to break him down and select my shots. He couldn't cope with the speed and the power.
"I don't want to be fighting people down at journeyman level, I want to be fighting people that have been in with top level fighters. I want to grabbing these titles like the Commonwealth, European and getting my name bigger. Amir Khan became world champion at 22, it would be great if I could be world champion just before 22."
Azim has lofty goals even beyond outpacing Khan to world honours. He wants to win a title before turning 22, and then proceed to unify and ultimately become undisputed within two years, meaning he would be in the vicinity of Devin Haney, who became undisputed at just 23 earlier this year at lightweight.
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"Amir Khan won it really early, but I want to win it earlier and then I want to be undisputed by the time I'm 24," Azim continued. "Shane McGuigan [Azim's coach] believes in me and Sky Sports are backing me as much as I can, I just signed a new long-time deal with Sky Sports.
"Shane's the best trainer in the world, he's making me into a monster and I want to continue my journey in style, like the way I fought against Rylan Charlton. A lot of people know what Shane is all about, I've got legends in the gym like Barry McGuigan who's Shane's dad helping me out and Shane always tells me the right things to do and it's working.
"I put in hard work at the gym and he'd have me sparring middleweights and doing the pads practicing shots I've never done before. I've got to sit down with my team and discuss when my next fight is, maybe January, you never know. I could be on the Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Smith card, or maybe I'll headline in February."
