It will have been one week shy of two years since Viddal Riley's last fight when he steps back into the ring on the undercard of Amir Khan's grudge fight with Kell Brook in Manchester.
Indeed, when Riley earned a hard-fought victory over veteran MMA fighter and boxer Muhammad Abdullah, the UK had just 19 recorded coronavirus cases.
Riley was signed with Mayweather Promotions, and was beginning to settle into life in Las Vegas having left his family to pursue a professional career at just 21-years-old.
But the world had other plans, and a cocktail of injuries and government shutdowns cost him two years of his young career and forced him to re-evaluate his future.
Fast forward to today and Riley inisists he is fitter than ever and back training with his father and coaches at the West Ham Boxing Club after an emotional return to his home gym.
And he is preparing to make his UK debut on one of the biggest pay-per-view cards of the year when Khan and Brook finally square off after years of build-up live on Sky Sports Box Office.
"I made the right decisions," he insists as he prepares to reintroduce himself to the boxing world. "Some of the fights that didn't come through were no fault of mine.
"It was just the world changing, how to get around restrictions, I was supposed to be on the Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul card and I was ready to go, my team wanted me to go.
"But it wasn't down to me, the things that needed to be in place - I had done before during the pandemic but during a camp it ruins your flow."
Ultimately, the decision to part ways with Mayweather Promotions was made for Riley - amicably, he insists - and he returned home to begin working towards his comeback.
Of course, the 24-year-old was never far from the public spotlight; his social media following numbers in the millions thanks to associations with YouTubers KSI and AnEsonGib.
And towards the end of last year, after working as a pundit for a number of their big events, Sky Sports and Boxxer confirmed Riley would be returning to the ring on the undercard of Khan vs Brook at the Manchester Arena.
"I am very thankful to the team over at Sky and Boxxer," he adds. "They've brought me back for my UK debut on this show.
"I feel like that's the platform that I deserve, as much as I haven't been in the ring for a couple of years I've spent a lot of time building a great brand, and this is the time to showcase that brand.
"I'm excited to deliver a great performance in the ring.
"I'm having to get my family to help me telling people that we can't get them tickets for every fight.
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"This one's in Manchester, I'm saying wait until we're in London to get more people in because there's been a lot of demand from influencers, family, friends, all angles and we have to manage that."
Riley will face an as-yet unnamed opponent over six rounds, but one thing he's keen on is keeping the level relatively high, and not trying to face local journeymen.
His last opponent was 4-1-1 as a boxer, as well as holding an impressive 10-5 record in professional MMA, and he wants fights that will intrigue fans as well as boost his experience.
"I don't want opponents with one win and 40 losses," he explains. "I can knock them out and create a highlight reel and do interviews about how devastating I look.
"But for my personal progress, to the level I want to reach, that isn't going to help it, it'd only help the hype and I've already got a following.
"I don't need to do things to increase my followers if it's not helping me and my progression.
"So when we look at opponents we're looking at people who, of course we don't want it to be a step too far too soon, but we want people to look and go 'oh I don't know if he should have chose that guy for his first fight back'.
"I love that, I find that exciting and once I've proven to people 'yes, that is who I've chosen' and they see how I get rid of them, they're going to realise I'm a real prospect, not just in the UK but worldwide, I'm a top prospect."
