Jazza Dickens has always walked his own path but the junior lightweight from Liverpool never lost belief that as long as he continued putting one foot in front of the other, it would eventually take him to the very top of the sport.

In February, it led him into the away corner at Manchester's new Co-Op Live arena for a make-or-break fight with Zelfa Barrett. Dickens (35-5, 14 KOs) revived his career with an excellent win.

Now, he is preparing to fly to Turkey. On Wednesday July 2nd, the 34-year-old will fight Russia's Albert Batyrgaziev (12-0, 8 KOs) for the interim WBA 130lb title in Instanbul. If victorious, he will become a major player in the junior lightweight division. The event will be streamed globally on DAZN.

"I reckon that's why you should see the end goal first. See where the ending is before you start because if I'd never done that, I'd have been in no man's land, wondering where to go," Dickens told The Ring.

"I just believe that it was the Lord's plan all along. I can't take credit for it myself. I’m just trying to do my part and following what I believe the Lord's got planned for me and the end goal.

"I just believe that the Lord's will is for me to be where I am right now and I'm very, very grateful."

He hasn't been handed an easy task. Batyrgaziev has quickly moved to No.9 in the Ring Magazine's divisional rankings and the talented southpaw has held the interim WBA belt since last July when he stopped Ireland's Jono Carroll in nine rounds.

Dickens however, hasn't spent too much time worrying about the 27-year-old.

After losing his IBO featherweight title to Hector Sosa in July 2023, Dickens notched up a couple of routine wins but soon found himself at a crossroads and without a trainer. Before the fight with Barrett, he took himself to Dubai and began training under Albert Ayrapetyan.

The Georgian quickly realised what he was working with and provided Dickens with the blueprint to beat Barrett.

Things went so well that Dickens has once again left the planning to his training team and concentrated solely on making sure he's in the best possible condition to take his opportunity.

"It's not really my style to search who people are unless it's put to me that, 'You might fight this guy or that guy.' Maybe then I'll have a look at them," he said.

"I didn't watch Zelfa. I just trusted in Albert because I know he's a very good coach and it's going to be the very same for this one.

"So I'm not too focused on my opponent. All I know is that he has the interim world title and probably - for the length of time that Lamont Roach hasn't defended for - he should actually be the world champion right now.

"Kudos to him for getting there but I'm not too focused on him, just focused on myself for this one.

"I think it'll be upgraded to the world title as [full WBA champion] Lamont Roach might be fighting a rematch with "Tank" Davis. Then it'll be vacant. So, it'll be me or him who's in line so I see it as a world title fight."

In his early days, Dickens was a non-stop ball of energy and angles who never stood in front of his opponent for longer than it took to throw a shot before skipping off to the side and resetting.

Inevitably, his style has evolved over the years but Ayrapetyan helped Dickens rediscover the skills that once made him a standout prospect.

Dickens' muscle memory kicked in. Against Barrett, he combined flashes of that old footwork with the know how he has gained over the course of his 14-year long career and put together an outstanding performance.

Seeing the results of their hard work proved to him that he made the right choice in basing himself in Dubai. After the fight there was no big celebration or post-fight breakdown of what went right and what went wrong, just satisfaction at a job well done.

"The plan went exactly to the letter," he said. "He [Albert] is a very humble guy because after the fight, instead of him saying to me, "You did this and you did that" I said to him, "Albert, how did you know everything that you told me was going to work like that?" and he just shrugged his shoulders and smirked as if to say, "Well, that's my job."

"He didn't want a pat on the back for it so we didn't really have a conversation like that which just gave me a lot more trust for Albert in his gameplans."

Ayrapetyan has pitted his wits against Batyrgaziev before. Last July, he got a good look at the 27-year-old southpaw when his fighter Carroll travelled to Russia before being stopped in the ninth.

Dickens had no idea he would end up fighting Batrygaziev when he made the move to Dubai but the knowledge that Ayrapetyan knows exactly what he is up against has given him total confidence that his coach will once again come up with a winning strategy.

"I have to also remember that he had a plan for Zelfa based on the fact that he'd been up against him before with Costin Ion so he had things in the back of his mind which might have worked," Dickens said. "It may be the same thing going into this fight. He's already fought this guy with Jono so he has a bit of an advantage there.

"He's a very intelligent coach and that’s why I'm out here living in Dubai away from my family: to be with a coach like Albert.

"It's only coincidental that I've ended up in a great position, in a fantastic gym - the Golden Ring - who are also looking after me. Things have just gone really well.

"I've ended up in a really good place, in a gym that I love with a coach that I love with a team around me who are pushing me towards world titles. I'm very lucky."

Dickens has been involved in his fair share of big nights and has enjoyed plenty of success but sounds more relaxed than at any stage of his career.

Dickens has always been obsessed with boxing and doing whatever it took to realise his potential and whilst he is still as determined and disciplined as ever, has realised that he is more likely to accomplish his boxing dreams if also at ease in other aspects of his life.

"It's not about the boxing, it's about my contentment on my position in life." he said.

"I believe that, in the past, I tried my best to force God's will into what I wanted. I was living on my own will and thanking God for what I wanted rather than thanking God for where he wants me so whatever God wants for me now, that's what will be. I accept it."