Conah Walker walks, talks and fights like somebody who believes he is destined for greater things.

On December 6, the British and Commonwealth welterweight champion will travel to Monaco to defend his titles against 2020 Olympic silver medallist Pat McCormack (8-0, 6 KOs) and he is treating the tricky, high-profile defence as business as usual.

“Going into this it’s the same mentality. I don't believe he can beat me,” Walker (16-3-1, 7 KOs) told The Ring.

“Not at this stage, not at the level I'm at now and the trajectory I'm on. I believe I'm going to be world champion now as far as I'm concerned. The world title hunt is on and anyone who's in front of me, over 12 rounds, I don't believe anyone beats me.”

Walker wasn’t groomed to be a champion. The 30-year-old from Wolverhampton quickly realised that if he was going to make serious headway in his career he would need to kick the door in.

Although he had a couple of early defeats in 50-50 fights, Walker steadily got better and grew in stature.

Now happily settled at Jamie Moore’s gym on the outskirts on Manchester, Walker has developed into one of the most accomplished welterweights in Britain. He insists that time, hard work and experience have got him to this point.

“I think I've done my apprenticeship now. I've had my tests. I've maybe come short on a couple of them but I've just learnt from them,” he said.

“I'm a really active fighter. I have three fights a year every year, so I just build every time.

“Of course the team helps but obviously every time I fight, if I do come up short, then I go back and I see where I went wrong and I just improve it. I'm just trying to be a more complete fighter every time I fight and I believe I am now.

“I'm 20 fights in and this is my 21st outing. I've done the weight now over and over again. There's no question marks on that. I know how fit I've got to be to go into these 12-round fights. I know how to navigate around the 12 rounds.”

In June 2024, many felt Walker was unlucky to lose a decision to current IBF welterweight champion Lewis Crocker after a memorable 10-round war.

Since then, three straight wins have earned him the British 147-pound title and established him as one of the most exciting fighters on the domestic scene.

It is widely expected that McCormack will provide him with his toughest test since Crocker.

Walker will have a hard time digging himself out of the same kind of hole he found himself in before rallying to stop Harry Scarff in a dramatic 11th-round win in January and he won’t want to allow McCormack the same kind of openings Liam Taylor found during their seven-round shootout in June.

Walker knows he faces a difficult task but believes that beating a highly touted fighter such as McCormack will open his horizons and set him up for an assault on the world scene.

“One hundred percent. Like I say, I'm a British champion,” he said.

“I don't need to prove nothing more in the UK and Britain because I've took on more UK top names than most. A lot of fighters, they go the long way round and get the international titles or avoid this man and avoid that man. I've fought everyone they've put in front of me and I've been calling out these guys like Pat. I asked for Pat.

“There was options. I've got a voluntary and I said, 'No, I want Pat McCormack' because I want to challenge myself. I want to be the underdog because that's where you get the best out of me.”