Riyadh Season has completely changed the boxing landscape but as well as opening the door for the best to fight one another, stacked shows have also provided plenty of unexpected opportunities for hard-working professionals who have given their lives to the sport without receiving any tangible reward for their efforts.

Fighters who may have begun to suspect their moment had passed them by will have started picking their phones up that little bit quicker when their manager's name flashed up, crossing their fingers that rather than a thankless task in the away corner, they might be about to be offered the chance to reignite their career.

That latest man to receive such a call was Qais Ashfaq (13-3-1, 5 KOs).

The 32-year-old junior lightweight has spent his professional career trying to break through at domestic level. On August 16th, he will fight undefeated Japanese contender Hayato Tsutsumi (7-0, 4 KOs) on a Riyadh Season card in Saudi Arabia.

"My manager Lee Eaton was looking for fights. We had a couple come up that didn't really make much sense in terms of time and notice," Ashfaq told The Ring.

"My manager knows that as long as I get the right notice and the right weight, preferably as well, then I'll take it. I'll fight and back myself against anyone.

"All I ever ask for is the right notice and the right weight. It was perfect so straight away with my answer was, 'Yes.'"

Ashfaq was a top class amateur boxer who won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and represented Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics.

Without sugarcoating the matter, he hasn't hit the same heights as a professional. Time and time again, Ashfaq has got himself into a position where a win would catapult him up to the next level but circumstance has always prevented him from taking his chances.

Two years ago he dropped a razor-tight decision to Liam Dillon in a fight for the British 130lb title. He responded by grinding himself down to featherweight for a fight with Masood Abdulah, suffering a fifth-round stoppage defeat. Most recently, he had to settle for a 10-round draw with Levi Giles in December.

Ashfaq is a smart operator and will know that his recent form will be partly responsible for him landing his latest opportunity.

He believes that Tsutsumi's people have made a major mistake choosing him and that the biggest moment of his career has arrived at exactly the right point in his life.

"There have been times where I've lost fights that I should have won but I think it all brings you to the right place and I think that's what's brought me here now," he said.

"There's loads of issues behind the scenes, whether they are personal or in the gym but, in those moments, it wasn't meant to be.

"I've always been a firm believer in God's plan. That's what's kept me in the game and kept me true to my craft, you know what I mean? It kept me working hard in the gym.

"Everything's just more settled. I’ve had a new coach [Ryan Vickers] since before the Levi Giles fight. Before that Giles fight, I'd only met him seven weeks before so we're a lot more settled now.

"I feel amazing in the gym and my personal life's a lot more settled. I’m in a very good place now. Like they say, a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter and I'm starting to understand that a bit more now."

Part of Ashfaq's confidence stems from the fact that he and his trainer, Ry Vickers, are focusing on the natural skills and techniques that brought him so much amateur success.

No fighter can rely entirely on their amateur skillset when they enter the tough, unforgiving world of professional prizefighting but Ashfaq believes he spent so much time and energy adapting his style, he neglected the qualities that made him so good.

"He [Vickers] is concentrating more on what made me as good as I am in the first place, whereas some of the other coaches were adding things to my arsenal - which I do still have now," the southpaw said.

"Don't get me wrong, all the coaches I've been with, I've learned stuff off them so I'm still using little tricks from their books as well but this coach now is just basically getting me to do what I'm best at and bring the best out of my ability.

"I think in that transition [to a new coach], the things you're good at you maybe don't do as much but I'm in a place now where I've learned a lot of things through the years I've been a pro as well. As a fighter, I had a very amateur style so it took me a long time to adjust anyway. Now I've added these little things that I've learned from all these coaches.

"I feel that's why I'm feeling so good now, because I feel like this coach now is very responsive to me so if I'm telling him something, he takes it on board.

"You've always got to start with what you do best. You can add on things as you go but got to use that initial talent to get you where you want to be."

Ashfaq will need to arrive in Riyadh in his best form.

Tsutsumi sits at No. 3 in the WBA junior lightweight rankings and also has a solid amateur pedigree himself to fall back on. A few months after Ashfaq boxed at the 2016 Olympic Games, Tsutsumi took gold at the Youth World Boxing Championships.

His exciting brother Reito (2-0, 1 KO) is a Ring ambassador and has featured on both of Ring Magazine's recent showcase events in New York City. The elder Tsutsumi will be aiming to make a real mark of his own in his first fight outside Japan.

Ashfaq admits that Tsutsumi only appeared on his radar when he got mentioned as a potential opponent.

"Since the fight got made really," he said.

"I knew of his brother from a couple of years ago because he beat a Cuban that I've worked with. His brother is going to be the main guy, I believe. I saw him on that New York bill as well but I didn't even know he had a brother. He [Reito] is a come forward sort of fighter whereas I think the one I'm fighting is a bit more of a boxer."

Fighting Tsutsumi not only gives Ashfaq the chance to announce himself to an entirely new audience, but the opportunity to reinvent himself.

Ashfaq may have endured his fair share of bad luck and bad timing but if he can get over the hill and finally score a meaningful victory, it would overshadow all of the difficulties he has been through.

"I'm under no illusion that I'm going there as the opponent but I believe in my ability enough," he said. "I know I can beat this kid and that's why I'm going out there. I’m not just going out there to make up the numbers. I'm going there to turn them over and get the win.

"I'm a firm believer in God and his plan and I believe that I've been put in this position for a reason."