Lee McGregor is in Riyadh on business.

The Scotsman takes on Isaac Lowe on the undercard of the December 21st heavyweight title rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury and knows that whilst the show will provide him with some much needed exposure and publicity, he can only truly change the course of his career by winning the fight.

Back in 2021, McGregor, 14-1-1 (11 KOs), blew Karim Guerfi away inside a round to add the European bantamweight belt to his British and Commonwealth titles. In doing so, he became the fastest British fighter in history to collect the three famous belts, managing the feat in just ten fights.

Then things stalled.

For some reason, McGregor was unable to capitalise on his success. He drew with Diego Ruiz and then, 17 months later, lost a hard, gruelling IBO super bantamweight title fight with Erik Ayala Robles. Since then, he has been looking for a route back. The talented McGregor is still only 27 years old but has been forgotten.

The fight with Lowe, 25-2-3 (8 KOs), offers him the chance to reclaim his standing.

Will Saturday night see the reveal of one of British boxing’s best kept secrets or the reemergence of one of its forgotten men?

“I don't know, to be honest,” McGregor told The Ring. “A bit of both. But I know and real boxing people - the ones that have seen me in the gym and everything like that - they all know how good I am and I firmly believe I'm one of the best fighters in Britain, without a shadow of a doubt.

“I’ll show that next week and I'll continue to show that after next week as well. I don't know what you want to call it. The get back? Lee McGregor chapter, whatever? It's not going to be chapter two.There's been many more chapters than that but this is the best one yet for sure.”

Riyadh Season has thrown together some unusual dance partners and resulted in a whole host of long over due fights being made but McGregor and Lowe have been in each others vicinity for some time.

They were due to box twelve months ago but the fight was postponed when McGregor tore a muscle in his forearm.

The injury gave McGregor another reason to question his dedication to a sport which has given him so much but also caused him so much heartbreak.

“Obviously, we were due to fight. It's mad. I think it’s about a year ago to the day, to be honest. But here we are a year later and I think it's going to be a good fight,” he said. “I was gutted when the fight fell through. It was really hard to deal with, you know, mentally. But look at what's happened. It's just like it's meant to be.

“I basically cried through the troubles. I've had so, so much stuff going on behind the scenes that people don't have a clue about and I lost hope with everything. I think next week, when I get my hands on that belt, I'll be like, ‘You know, I’d go through all that again.’”

Boxing asks a lot of its participants inside and outside of the ring.

Nobody would go out to a scaffolding job every morning or turn up at the office every day without the promise of wage hitting their account every month.

Being a professional boxer means turning up at the gym day in and constantly having payday or a promotion kicked further and further down the road.

Some fighters lose motivation, begin spending less and less time in the gym and end up losing to somebody they should have beaten. Others drift away entirely from the sport and forfeit their chance to get something back from the business they have devoted their lives to.

Throughout his troubles, McGregor has managed to maintain his determination. Beating Lowe will see him make up all of his lost ground and gain plenty more.

“When you go through them dark times, it's the worst times ever in your life and you wish... you just want things to be better,” he said. Then when you do get the good things, you really do take them, you know what I mean? I would take all that heartache to get this feeling all over again. I can say how I believed it was going to all work out but, genuinely, I didn't. I lost hope. I was sick to death. I just couldn't do it.

“But like I said, something was there. I don't know, maybe my daughter, my family. There's lots of things that obviously I've got. I started boxing because I absolutely loved it. I fought all over the world against the best amateurs in the world because I loved it. For free. I've been able to change my life through boxing. I bought my family home. I've changed me and my family's life through boxing and then you’re at that stage when you have a family that rely on you. You've got bills. You've got mortgages.

“My love for the game is still the exactly same but when you have that extra pressure of that as well, it makes things difficult and it does make it hard. And then obviously the amount of things happened to me throughout my career. Cancelled dates and injuries and all sorts of stuff. I've lost a lot of time, momentum, lots of things and boxing isn't just like another job. You put your life on the line every time.”

Things couldn’t have worked out any better but although McGregor has been given the stage he has always wanted, the occasion has to take a back seat this weekend. Beating Lowe is the be all and end all.

“I'm in a good position now and just over a week out, I can honestly say I'm in a really, really good place so I'm just looking forward to it.

“I want to try and really just enjoy this moment. Try and not let the occasion get to me, soak it up, enjoy it. I feel like when I'm relaxed and happy, that's when I'm at my best and I feel like I'm in that mindset just now so we're in a good place.”