The latest young British heavyweight hopeful will roll off the production line on Saturday night.

World Boxing Under-19 world champion and multi-time national titleholder Leo Atang will make his professional debut on the Jack Catterall-Harlem Eubank undercard at Manchester's AO Arena, boxing Bulgaria's Milen Paunov in a 4-round contest.

The York teenager's debut was announced back in May and an early, eager arrival at his first professional press conference, 18-year-old Atang couldn't stop smiling.

"It's all just happened in a flash, but now we're getting closer to the fight day," Atang told The Ring. "I'm just getting more and more excited. I'm seeing my numbers in the gym flying up, sparring and training is good, it's exciting.

"I'm feeling unbelievable at the moment and I can't wait to show everyone what I've got."

Heavyweights make the boxing world go around and Atang's promoters Matchroom are clearly hoping that he becomes a cornerstone of the business for years to come.

The publicity machine will crank into gear and provide him with the platform to make a quick impact and he can expect to be kept busy, flown around the world and given plenty of chances to learn and impress.

All Atang has to do is keep winning and walk the path that will be laid for him.

That, of course, is over simplifying matters. Although he will be given every possible opportunity and advantage, heavyweight boxing is a dangerous, unpredictable business and Atang will need to stay motivated and in condition to perform each and every time he walks to the ring.

He will also have to shoulder the type of pressure that prospects in other weight divisions simply never encounter.

"It's all new to me really. I'm starting to get used to it now but at the same time, I'm trying just not to think about it because the reason I'm here is for what I actually do in the ring,” he said. "This is all just extra stuff to me really but I'll prove why I'm here and what all the talk is about when I actually get in the ring and do stuff.

"It's a lot of pressure, don't get me wrong. There’s lot of expectation but at the same time, I don't think of that. I see it almost as a blessing. They're choosing me for a reason, not just randomly selecting someone.

"They've obviously seen something in me and thought. 'We can make something of him' and I believe myself that I can get to the top as well."

These days, young amateur prospects are anointed as future world champions before they throw a professional punch. That level of hype guarantees attention but also brings sky-high expectations that can be difficult to meet.

Fans don't want to watch the fighter they have been told is a can't-miss prospect spend six rounds gaining experience and punching a reluctant opponent's forearms. They want to see their future stars walk to the ring and dismantle people.

Atang spent the tail end of his short amateur career boxing skilled operators who would do everything in their power to beat him. Although the early stages of his pro career will be spent fighting negative opponents focused on survival, coach Ashley Martin has begun teaching the little tricks that will help pry apart defences so he becomes an effective pro.

"You can ask any boxer and they'll admit it. When you're against more of a novicey boxer, they do things you don't expect them to do so you struggle a bit more. I need to be able to adjust to that because they might not react to the things I want them to reach to, whereas a high-leve amateur would," Atang continued.

"You've got to relax, slow your pace down and pick your shots. With the amateurs, when you get inside, it breaks straight away. In the pros you've got to work so it's like a whole new game, adding extra things to it, and it's exciting.

"I looked and I thought there's two completely different styles of boxing. You've got your amateur style, which is technically point scoring. Obviously, you get those who go against the grain and they're very successful pros but a lot of them, generically, to win now, especially with the scoring system, it's a lot of tapping.

"In the pros, you want to be hurting your opponents. You want to be breaking them down slowly. I feel like if you get into that earlier, it's going to pay dividends in the future."

In a recent interview, Atang told The Ring that he had never considered boxing until the up-and-down heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and WladimIr Klitschko captured his imagination.

A series of exciting fights and larger-than-life characters like unified champion Oleksandr Usyk as well as former titlists Joshua, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder have ensured that heavyweight news continued dominating the boxing landscape ever since but although he is still young, Atang has managed to avoid focusing all of his attention on the weight class.

As a quick and agile heavyweight, he has gained an appreciation of the skills that fighters lower down the weight divisions use and taken inspiration from them.

"At the moment, I watch them [the heavyweights] because it's good and entertaining but there's not much I really want to take my style from," he said.

"Back in the day, I like your Evander Holyfield’s and stuff like that but at the same time, I also watch a lot lighter boxers. I don't really watch heavyweights because I feel like I've got the speed and I can make up for that by boxing like a lighter weight fighter so I love watching Andre Ward and people like that.

“Smart boxers, intelligent boxers who break them down with intelligence and then get the finish.”