LONDON, England - It was mid-August 2021 and Reece Bellotti had just been stopped early in the third round by American prospect Raymond Ford in Eddie Hearn's back garden.

It was only Bellotti's third outing across a two-year spell and all of them had ended in defeat. In fact, that loss to Ford meant the featherweight from Watford had lost five of his previous seven fights. Suddenly, he had a decision to make and the people closest to him were starting to worry.

"There was definitely an element of needing something to change," Bellotti tells The Ring.

"I remember speaking to my wife and she's saying to me 'you can't keep getting beat.' I was like 'umm, yeah I know.'

"Don't get me wrong, I had my own doubts myself but if anyone's going to tell you the truth it'd be your own missus. But I told her that's not me, and that I knew in myself how I feel and what I was still capable of.

"I said 'look, I get it, I understand what people think' - Bellotti is done, he's finished. But I said to her, I'm not done yet. She knows me better than anyone and she knew I wasn't.

"So instead of packing it in I thought it was time to give it a go at the weight above. But obviously there's no money in it when you're coming back after that many losses.

"So I wasn't doing it for money, I was doing it because one, I love the sport and two, I felt like I had a lot left to give."

The four years since that conversation with his wife Charlotte have vindicated their decision, with Bellotti now on a six-fight winning run as a junior lightweight, with three of those ending inside the distance. And these were not easy knockover jobs either, with the six opponents boasting a combined record of 85-4-1.

The run also gleaned the British and Commonwealth titles at 130lbs and on Saturday night at the Bournemouth International Centre live on DAZN he challenges the undefeated Ryan Garner for the European title too. It has been an incredible turnaround for the 34-year-old.

"I straight away noticed the difference from having those extra four pounds to play with," Bellotti adds. "It made all the difference and the results have proven that. Now in Ryan Garner I've got the toughest opponent of my career and I've trained accordingly. I'm pretty sure he has too so it's going to be one hell of a fight."

While Bellotti was in no mood to look past Garner, the 17-0 'Piranha', who will enjoy something of a home advantage only a few miles down the road from where he lives in Southampton, does represent the traditional final hurdle before a potential crack at the world title.

Bellotti is not currently ranked inside the top 15 with any of the four major sanctioning bodies but, should he add the European title to his British and Commonwealth ones, is a world title fight still realistic?

"For my whole career, I've always told anyone that would listen that if I don't win a British title then I've massively underachieved as a fighter," he says. "Obviously, a few years back when I was getting loads of losses I was sitting there thinking 'mate, if I win a British title, I've had a touch.'

"Now I've regained more self-belief and a lot of experience along the way. I understand and believe that I definitely can compete at that world level. As you get older, you get a bit wiser in terms of things like that but I don't see it being a million miles out of reach anymore.

"But there's no point in me thinking about any of that unless I can get the job done against Garner. He's going to be under a lot of pressure with all his friends there and I do believe he's going to come out and have a war with me.

"And that's something I actually can't wait for."