MANCHESTER, England - Aqib Fiaz believes that class will tell when he and Jordan Flynn climb between the ropes on January 24.

Fiaz (14-1, 2 KOs) and Flynn (13-1-1, 2 KOs) will meet over 10 rounds on the undercard of Moses Itauma's heavyweight clash with Jermaine Franklin. DAZN will broadcast the event from Manchester's Co-op Live Arena.

The outspoken Flynn is most well-known for his drawn out rivalry with Fiaz's former gym mate, Cameron Vuong, and wasted little time in attempting to draw Fiaz into some verbal sparring at the fight's opening press conference.

The lightweight fight is a must-win affair for both men and Fiaz isn't allowing himself to be side tracked.

"For me, he’s got a big following and a big name but really and truly accomplished nothing. He's beat who? Nobody. That's what I think," Fiaz told The Ring.

"That's the difference. You go through our records and you see who's got the padded record. You see who's having tickover fights with journeymen between these fights.

"I'm a real fighter, always have been. Since I was 18 I've always been in real fights."

Fiaz is still only 26 years old but seems to have been around for years. He was a teenage amateur when he was chosen as a sparring partner for former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton, and turned professional shortly after.

He quickly found himself fighting on big shows but although he remained unbeaten, was hamstrung by injury, inconsistency and briefly contemplated retirement after losing his mother and best friend during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In October 2023, a stoppage defeat to Reece Bellotti sent him into the wilderness. Last year, he returned as a more mature, well-rounded fighter and got his career back on track.

He got back up and running with a third-round stoppage of Lydon Chircop and then produced arguably the best all round performance of his career to outbox and outfight Alex Murphy over 10 rounds.

Fiaz still has lots of time to fulfil his undoubted potential but needs to make an immediate impact against Flynn. He seems to be well-placed mentally and physically to do so.

"I wouldn't say it's a brand new start. I feel like when I was coming in on these big shows and fighting on TV as a youngster before my loss, I was 21-to-23 and had already been through a lot," he said.

"I was carrying a lot of trauma from the things that happened in my personal life. I kind of probably wasn't ready to do this but now feel like I'm a man. I feel like I'm much older, much more experienced. I’m a father and fighting for that bit more now.

"I feel like I'm prepared to excel and do what I always set out to do now."