There was a time when a Josh Kelly fight week would be punctuated by two things: whiskey and antibiotics.

Not only do doctors advise against taking those two substances together at the best of times, they are generally not considered an optimal combination for athletes at all, let alone those preparing to have a fist fight with another man.

But Kelly’s crippling chronic hypochondria meant it simply had to be thus. So consumed by the idea that he was on the verge of becoming unwell that he would crack open the antibiotics a few weeks out and to make matters worse, he was rendered completely unable to sleep by his level of overthinking, hence the whiskey.

Anybody who has ever flitted with insomnia will shudder at the sense of isolation, loneliness and burning frustration which comes with that inability to sleep. It is not uncommon for boxers to experience it in the lead up to potentially life-changing fights, but Kelly’s was so rampant that every night had become an ordeal.

Then when the sun rose, it was back to the medication, underpinned by regular hand-washing and a steady diet of Lemsip. His coach Adam Booth has always said Kelly goes from "worrier to warrior" and you can understand why the Sunderland man is convinced the sole defeat of his career, which came at the hands of David Avanesyan in 2021, was lost in the build-up to the fight rather than on that bruising night itself.

It is amazing to think that defeat, which came via sixth-round stoppage despite a bright start against Avanesyan, turns five years old next month. Since then, Kelly has boxed seven more times, winning them all, and positioning himself for a shot at Bakhram Murtazaliev’s IBF junior middleweight title this Saturday in Newcastle.

That the biggest fight of Kelly’s career will come against another Russian-born foe seems appropriate, but "Pretty Boy" is a man now. Only a few will really know what happens behind closed doors this week, but those tumultuous days fueled by penicillin and the mini bar appear to be behind him.

Kelly cuts a philosophical figure these days. During an interview with The Ring’s Louis Hart a fortnight ago, Kelly wrestled with the concept of existence rather than worrying too much about his undefeated opponent.

“Me, you, everyone else,” he said, "we will be lucky to be here in 80 years time. I’ll be 110 by then. After we’re gone, we’re gone. Our legacy might be remembered and might live on, that’s great, but we’re going to be dead.”

Although it might not seem like uplifting chat for a gloomy January Monday morning, Kelly was full of optimism when he said it. He’s no longer blighted by worry, he insists, and that can only be a good thing ahead of his clash with Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs).

“When I look back on those days I realize it was all in my head,” he says of his hypochondria. “Because after a fight people would ask how I’m feeling and I’d say I was fine.

“They’d say, 'you thought you were sick a couple of days ago.' Even if I think back to my childhood it was happening then, I thought I was sick one day but the next I’d be fine. It has been looming in my head and now I’ve just erased all that.

“Life’s crazy. I’m so grateful for everything. My dad was talking about this world title being something I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I said, 'Dad, Manny Pacquiao has won seven or eight world titles at so many weights, who cares?' It’s great, but in the grand scheme of things, who gives a ***?" I’ll just go in there and enjoy myself.”

Kelly has always looked at his best doing exactly that. He turned over in the wake of the 2016 Olympics in Rio, where he was beaten in the last 16 by eventual champion Daniyar Yeleussinov. Although he was unable to claim a medal, there were high hopes for Kelly as a pro given his mercurial talent.

Those games were a decade ago this summer and his career has been something of a slow burn given he has boxed just 19 times (17-1-1, 9 KOs). From that 12-boxer team (10 men, two women), Lawrence Okolie, Joe Cordina and Savannah Marshall are already former world champions. Two of them have retired.

But sometimes boxing is a waiting game as much as anything else, whether that’s inside or outside of the ring.

"There's going to be ups and downs because I'm a bit of a rollercoaster ride,” he said in February 2017 when he first turned over. “But when I put my mind to it I know I can do a lot in the sport.”

It might have taken nine years, but on Saturday night he can make it worth the wait.