Days away from Joshua Buatsi's biggest fight yet, he looks a picture of nonchalance and composure as he strolls into position for our interview.

The light-heavyweight contender is set to face Callum Smith (32-2, 22 KOs) in an intriguing 175-pound clash on this weekend's big 'Last Crescendo' card in Riyadh, which is being headlined by Artur Beterbiev's rematch against Dmitry Bivol.

Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs) arrives at Regan's Fight Champions Gym in Purley, London, 15 minutes before his 7pm training session is due to start. The atmosphere is a bustling one.

In the lobby area of the gym, co-founder and head coach Darren Chanagasubbay makes his presence known. He has a look of pride on his face that Buatsi, having just spent nine weeks in Oakland, California, is using his gym just a week before his clash with Smith.

Meanwhile, two kids have their eyes glued to the TV, which is showing a replay of Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin. A couple of minutes later, Queensberry cruiserweight Ellis Zorro strolls in, and he's soon followed by promotional stablemate Denzel Bentley.

Legendary trainer Virgil Hunter is sitting and watching a Muay Thai class while he patiently waits for Buatsi to make his way down from the locker rooms.

For Buatsi, 31, big events like this weekend's were only something he could dream of being part of as a teenager.

Buatsi and his parents moved to London from Ghana when he was nine years old. The first thing he noticed was snow falling from the sky. By the age of 14, he'd been in too many fights to even count. A lot of them were to do with cultural differences, or his accent. But plenty were also born out of his love of fighting.

"I grew up round the corner from here but now I live in a safer area with older people with a nicer crowd and that," Buatsi tells The Ring with a smile on his face.

"This gym, I happen to be training here today, but I always support the gyms in Croydon, this is a great gym, I've got to support it, they've got a nice mural of me, this is south of Croydon but it's still Croydon to me.

"Growing up I wanted to be a pilot, which I still wanna do, but boxing is something that became interesting to me when I was like 15, I was doing a lot of fighting but not boxing. It wasn't until I found boxing I knew you could fight without getting into trouble, you could hurt people, they could try and hurt you back.

It's put to him that he doesn't look or sound like the type of person who got into fights as a youngster. There's always been an air of politeness and calmness about Buatsi.

He adds: "The interesting thing is people that have only just met me in this phase of my life, they're like 'na I can't imagine him getting into fights, I can't see it' and I'm like 'bro, if only you knew'. I'm not saying I was like some bad bad guy, but I was always in fights. There were so many.

"I really remember one time, I was at my house with my boy and this dude - I had a problem with his mates, I told him 'when I see you're friend, it's on' but this dude rang me and said 'na, when I see YOU it's on'. I was big for my age but he was bigger than me. I was chilling at my house one day and I got a call saying he's at the park waiting for you.

"Me and my boys sprinted to the scene, had a fair fight, two men, street fights you're looking at 20-30 seconds, done and dusted, we shook hands and went back home. Land first, land hard. I had a lot of those fights prior to boxing. I was 14 years old. Since I started boxing I haven't had to have a fight outside the ring. I'm a prizefighter now

"And now [with Virgil Hunter] I study boxing a lot more, I watch a lot more. Before I was doing it but not at this level, the main thing is I'm around someone who has been there before and taken fighters there before, so I'm trusting the process."

Buatsi doesn't seem too concerned with what Smith has to offer next week. He's a 'good' fighter, but also just 'another fighter'. He's not looking into the jump up in competition. On paper, Smith is the most accomplished fighter Buatsi has faced, but the Rio 2016 bronze-medallist is confident he can handle whatever physical threats come his way.

The focus springs back to the magnitude of Saturday's event. It's being touted as the best fight card ever, top to bottom. Beterbiev-Bivol headline but also on deck is Daniel Dubois-Joseph Parker, Carlos Adames-Hamzah Sheeraz, Vergil Ortiz Jr-Israil Madrimov, Zhilei Zhang-Agit Kabayel, Shakur Stevenson-Josh Padley and Buatsi's bout with Smith, which is set to kick off the night's action.

Buatsi says of his participation: "I never thought I'd be on these cards, hell no. I've boxed at Madison Square Garden, the O2 Arena, it wasn't even possible to have these dreams because I didn't know what these places were.

"Even when I came to England the way life was and how it was going for me, I wasn't thinking of the O2 Arena, my first time there I was 23. Prior to that I'd never even been, why the hell would I be there? That's where big events happen. When I was a young man I couldn't see how I would ever be there other than to watch someone else.

"I've had to work hard but everyone works hard so I'm so grateful the opportunities I've had have turned into something. On Saturday night I've got another one and I'm gonna grab it with both hands."