It is six months since then-undefeated Rhys Edwards answered a fight week call to face Peter McGrail after the initial opponent failed a drugs test.

When news broke that Dennis McCann had tested positive for an unspecified PED just eight days before their clash, it looked as though McGrail would miss his chance to feature on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Tyson Fury altogether.

But in stepped Edwards (16-1, 4 KOs) to save the fight and give his own profile a boost. He boxed well that night but still suffered the first defeat of his career with all three judges scoring narrowly in McGrail’s favour.

Now half a year later, Edwards returns to the ring but he finds himself on the other side of the coin with a late replacement brought in to face him as part of the undercard at Barnsley FC’s Oakwell Stadium on Saturday night.

After talks with a number of different fighters, it was agreed that Edwards would face former British title challenger Lyon Woodstock but that all changed when the Leicester man revealed he had suffered an ankle injury.

It has since been confirmed that the perennially tough former European bantamweight champion Thomas Essomba has been drafted in for the fight. It means a total change of approach for Edwards, who will now be facing a physically smaller southpaw but the Welshman insists he has enough time to adapt.

“There has been talk of so many different opponents,” Edwards told The Ring. “I think I had four or five different people that I thought I was going to fight at some point but it has turned out to be Thomas Essomba.

“He was confirmed about two weeks out. Him and Lyon Woodstock are two completely different fighters so it’s not ideal but it’s boxing and these things happen. I’ve just got to grab the opportunity with both hands and adapt as best I can. I can only fight who they put in front of me.”

Having jumped in so late to face McGrail, the 25-year-old from Penygraig, Wales is also well aware of how Essomba will be feeling when he arrives in Barnsley for fight week.

“He will just turn up with no pressure and no expectation,” Edwards adds. “He’s got absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain so I expect that to bring out the best in him. I’m looking forward to dealing with that.

“I believe I box his head off for the first two rounds and then pick it up and put it on him. Time will tell whether or not I can stop him but I’m feeling confident.”

Given the narrow defeat to McGrail and the six months’ of inactivity that followed, it is now more than a year since Edwards last won a boxing match - his impressive points win over Thomas Patrick Ward in May last year.

But ‘Rhys Lightning’ is hopeful that a victory over Essomba will secure him a shot at British featherweight champion Zak Miller before the end of 2025.

He said: “My dream has always been to win the British title. When I first turned professional I always thought about getting my hands on that belt.

“Now the champion is in grabbing distance so if this next fight goes to plan hopefully we can make that happen. I would like to think we could get that this year.

“Every fight is now just getting bigger and bigger. Since the Ward fight, then McGrail, now this, it is just a snowball effect and I want that to turn into a shot at the British title.”