James ‘Jazza’ Dickens insists that his mission is still far from over.

Two weeks ago, Dickens (36-5,1 5 KOs) travelled to Istanbul, Turkey and dominated Russia’s Albert Batyrgaziev, knocking out the Russian in four one sided rounds to win the WBA interim junior lightweight title.

Dickens flew back to Liverpool and after spending a quiet few days celebrating with his family at their favourite Welsh holiday destination, he slipped back into day-to-day life. The workaholic’s mind is already starting to tick over again.

“For the first few days I was on cloud nine, nothing could knock me off. Then you step back into reality don't you and say 'What's next?'," Dickens told The Ring as he completed the school run.

“I'm happy that now I’ve come off cloud nine, I'm more hungry to go and do more.

“Get back in the bucket. Crabs in a bucket. No one’s getting out.”

Dickens is more than happy to get back in the bucket. He has dedicated his life to boxing and, at 34, he is performing better than at almost any point in his 14 year long professional career. That stunning win over Batrygaziev also means that he is finally in position to capitalise on all those years of hard work.

Dickens fully expects his title to be upgraded once current full title older, Lamont Roach, confirms his move to lightweight and a lucrative rematch with Gervonta Davis. Earlier this week, The Ring reported that although a proposed date of August 16 has been cancelled, alternative dates are still being explored.

The WBA interim belt has given Dickens some time and plenty of bargaining power but it hasn’t affected his ambition or his search fro contentment.

“You know what? Secretly I've always wanted that more than a world title,” he said. “There's a difference between a world champion and the world champion and I've always wanted to be the world champion.

“I'm in a good position now. Even if I don't fight one of them [champions] there's massive fights here in England too isn't there?

“They also have a rematch clause with Batrygaziev too.”

Dickens controlled the fight with Batrygaziev from start to finish. From the opening bell he looked the stronger man and the more well-rounded professional boxer and he finished the fight in ruthless fashion. Batrygaziev was skilled enough to win a gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games and is a brave, determined fighter but he would have a mountain to climb if he does decide to invoke the rematch clause.

Dickens would fulfil his contractual obligations if called to do so but isn’t sure whether Batrygaziev will want to chase revenge.

“I don't know him personally so I don't know,” he said.

“He had a contract clause because he was their man but I don't think that he expected it to go like that. If it's one lucky shot you end up taking him out with it's a bit like, 'OK then, we'll go again' but it wasn't a lucky shot. It was obvious he was dominated.”

Boxing is a sport of fine margins and tiny adjustments but sometimes small, subtle changes in a fighter’s body language can be easy to spot. Batrygaziev entered the ring with the bounce and confidence of an unbeaten fighter but doubt quickly and clearly seeped through his body.

“There was a moment,” Dickens remembered. “He's a pressure fighter and there was a moment where I stopped moving and just looked at him and smiled and laughed as if to say he wasn’t doing that to me. His whole body, his heart dropped. I could see it in his face. He’d probably been putting pressure on people for years, burning them to the ground and he looked at me and saw that this fella's not going to move.

“Then I started going forward and I think it was a bit demoralising for him that he had to now fight my game because he couldn't put his game onto me.

“But styles make fights don't they? I'm not saying I'm the greatest in the world, I'm just saying that sometimes it connects and southpaw to southpaw in that fight, it was the ideal opponent for me.”

The victory was the second of what is proving to be an outstanding year for Dickens and his coach at the Golden Ring Gym in Dubai, Albert Aryrapetyan.

The pair got together before Dickens’ February victory over Zelfa Barrett.

Ayrapetyan had been in the opposite corner to Barrett before and that experience taught him ways that Dickens could be effective against the Mancunian. Dickens put his faith in the plan, carried it out to perfection and boxed his way to a career reviving decision win.

Last year, Ayrapetyan’s fighter, Jono Carroll, was stopped in the ninth round by Batyrgaziev. That familiarity allowed him to once again plot a route to victory.

Ayrapetyan has helped Dickens rediscover the clever use of footwork and angles that made him such a promising young prospect but he has never before gone through the gears at the top level the way he did when he had Batyrgaziev hurt.

“I can't say enough good things about him,” Dickens said.

“I want the world to know about him and - at the same time - I don't want anyone to know about him so I can have all his time because he's a good coach. But I think Albert's going to get the rewards that he deserves because he's put his whole life into boxing. Sometimes a coach and a fighter get together at the end, you get the right opportunity at the right time. It's just hasn’t clicked for him before so it was beautiful that we both got to do that together.

“When I said to him, 'Thank you so much for what you're doing for me and how you've helped me' he said, 'It’s one thing saying it to a fighter, but then there's another thing where a fighter can implement what I'm telling them to do' so it works both ways.

“It'd be nice to him if he gets a big heavyweight so he can do it and make loads of money.”

Dickens has spent a long periods in the wilderness looking for opportunities but he can finally let things play out, safe in the knowledge that something big will find him.

There have already been discussions and although none are for public consumption, the win over Batyrgaziev and his WBA title have put him at the centre of the action.

“Yeah, a few but nothing that we can say anything about because it's pointless if it's not happening isn’t it?” Dickens said.

“There's nothing happening yet but it all sounds very, very promising. I’ve gone from 'Who needs him?' to them wanting a piece. It’s nice. It’s very nice.”