Pat Brown has made some high pressure ring walks.

The cruiserweight prospect won the ABA Elite championships twice and also boxed at the 2024 Olympic Games but nothing will have prepared him for the feeling as he left his dressing room ahead of his show-topping debut in March.

With Argentina’s tough Federico Grandone waiting for him in the ring, the atmosphere inside Altrincham’s Planet Ice arena ramped up as Brown’s name was announced.

The opening chords of Luther Vandross’ “Never Too Much” struck up and the cruiserweight appeared, bedecked in a plain black robe.

Rather than awkwardly pacing around in front of a ten foot high photograph of his own face and waiting for a beat to drop, a business-like Brown paused momentarily to acknowledge the thousands of fans who had paid to see him and strode purposefully straight down the ramp.

The 25 year-old was climbing through the ropes before Vandross would have had chance to clear his throat.

Brown’s no thrills entrance to the world of professional boxing was a welcome change from the cookie cutter ring walks we see every week but it summed up his personality and style better than any amount of fireworks or theatrics could.

Authenticity sells.

“I'm there to do my job, I'm not there to dance,” Brown (1-0, 1 KO) told The Ring.

“That's why I rush to the ring, because I'm ready to just get in there and do it. I'm not that sort of guy. Everyone likes a bit of old school music but I'm not going to be doing all walking up and around and waiting.

“For me, it would just take my eyes off the prize as well.”

The build up to Brown’s debut lasted four months.

Last November, his decision to sign with Matchroom was officially announced at a hastily arranged “An Evening with Pat Brown” which attracted hundreds of friends and supporters and he was instantly anointed as one of the biggest ticket sellers in the country and the man to bring big time boxing back to Manchester.

Brown then had to endure an agonising wait before getting to box and had seen almost every of one his stablemates at Jamie Moore’s gym in action by the time he got to pull on a pair of 10oz gloves for the first time and trade shots.

After experiencing his first professional fight week and then showing what he can do, Brown now feels like he is part of the business and returns to action against Croatia's Ivan Duka (5-5, 3 KOs) in Birmingham, England on Saturday. DAZN will broadcast the event.

“Yes, definitely,” he said. “For the debut, I experienced a lot. I had a lot of pressure. I got thrown in the deep end but that's where I grow and thrive the most. I'm happy that's been done and dusted now.

“I know what to expect and, like anyone, when you know what to expect you feel a lot more comfortable.”

Grandone didn’t provide Brown with an easy start to his career. He was tough, and resilient but also threw plenty of leather back Brown’s way.

The fight became more exciting than Brown and his team may have anticipated or liked but it gave him a first hand look at life as a professional and will have been much more useful than a series of one sided wins.

“I had a lot of pressure and it was make or break,” Brown said. “If Grandone beat me and upset the party it would have been a nightmare with all the hype that everyone's been doing but that's what boxing is about. You're going to get a lot of opinions, you're going to get a lot of hype. I just thought to myself that if I can't handle it on my pro debut, I'm never going to handle it when I'm fighting for a title of some sort.

“I asked for someone tough like Grandone. I'd be very surprised if he gets asked to come over to the UK again to fight someone.

“At the time, I didn't think anything of it but from what people have been saying, he's a game fighter. He would cause a few people problems and he was physically in shape.”

Although ticket sellers are responsible for creating a big atmosphere, it is crucial that they don’t get caught up in it themselves and lose sight of the job at hand.

In the quiet days after a fight, wildly popular two-time world featherweight champion, Josh Warrington, would sit and watch videos that his friends and family had taken.

Once Brown had finished celebrating his debut win, he too sat down quietly with his phone and relived the evening through the eyes of those who came to support him, many of whom gathered in a large group and walked towards the arena together.

“I did do that, to be fair,” Brown laughed. “I’m in about three group chats with 100 people in all of them. Some of the videos that get put in there are unbelievable.

“One specifically that is at the forefront of my mind is of the march through Altrincham. There were masses. Hundreds with flags and horns. I’ve never seen anything like that before.

“I take my hat off to everyone. I love them all, I know them, and that means everything to me.”

With his bill topping debut out of the way and a professional win under his belt, Brown will now be able to concentrate solely on improving and moving through the ranks.

“I'm out June 21 in Birmingham and then obviously on the July 5 in Manchester so two fights, two weeks apart,” he said.

“It's just like my amateur days, fighting three or four days consecutively. I live for this.”