Rhys Edwards had just left the supermarket when receiving the phone call offering him the chance to change his life.

Fighters had begun boarding planes, making their way to Riyadh for December’s massive heavyweight rematch between unified WBC/WBA/WBO and RING champion Oleksandr Usyk and former titleholder Tyson Fury when news broke that Dennis McCann had been removed from the card after returning an adverse finding on a pre-fight Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) test.

McCann’s late withdrawal left organisers scrambling to find a new opponent for the highly-rated Peter McGrail (11-1, 6 KOs).

After a weekend of frantic negotiations, Edwards (16-1, 4 KOs) was selected. The 24-year-old Welshman was walking around Asda when noticing a number of missed calls on his phone.

He said ‘Yes’ and just a few hours later, arrived in Saudi Arabia as a relatively unknown late substitute.

Edwards performed admirably before losing a close unanimous decision but although he boarded his flight home from Riyadh with a loss on his record, left with the respect of the boxing world.

A first defeat can be a heartbreaking episode for an ambitious young fighter but the circumstances surrounding the McGrail defeat have made it easier for the talented Edwards to deal with.

“Obviously, I'm gutted that I lost, but it don't feel like a loss,” he told The Ring.

“It's the happiest I've been after any fight and it's the only fight I've lost, which is mad. It's been a mad feeling because of the way people have been talking to me. One or two people said, ‘Oh, unlucky’ but most have just been, ‘Well done, you were awesome’ so it speaks for itself and I'm happy. I'm just looking forward to another big year.”

Considering it was put together on such short notice and made at super-featherweight, the fighters put on an excellent display.

Normally a featherweight, Edwards boxed brilliantly and paced himself perfectly whilst super-bantamweight hopeful McGrail showed flashes of the ability that made him one of Britain’s most decorated amateur boxers of all-time. The fighters posed and solved problems, momentum swinging one way and then the other.

After the fight, some felt that McGrail deserved the decision whilst others believed that Edwards was unlucky to suffer his first career defeat. Everybody agreed that the two had put on a high-quality, exciting contest.

Compliments are nice but although they may have softened the blow of having lost for the first time, Edwards is still allowed to be annoyed by the judges' decision.

“I thought I won. I honestly did,” Edwards said.

“I ain't going to moan but I do think I won. I was coming on strong as well. I think if it was a 12-rounder I would have finished even stronger. I was a bit gutted, obviously. I would have done a few things different after watching it back.

“I started a little slow but he did start real fast. It was a great game plan. Obviously, we didn't have much time to prepare for Peter but I've watched him for years and I know exactly what Peter's about so I'm not using that as an excuse but it was a quality fight, to be honest.

“I really enjoy watching the fight. Even if it weren’t me and Peter boxing, if it was some other fighters, I think it's such a fantastic fight to watch. Very skilful. I've got nothing but respect for Peter. Absolute quality fighter.”

Last May, Edwards recorded a career-best victory by boxing his way to a wide unanimous decision over the talented Thomas Patrick Ward in Cardiff.

He could justifiably have expected the win to open up his horizons but although his phone rang regularly, found it nigh on impossible to nail down a date. The call to fight McGrail came at exactly the right time.

Edwards has pushed himself back to the forefront of people’s minds but it is now imperative that he makes the right move. Whilst the desire to even the score with McGrail will be high on his priority list, allowing his career to revolve around the Liverpudlian would be a mistake.

An evenly-contested first fight means a rematch will always remain open but, for the time being at least, McGrail is likely to super-bantamweight whilst Edwards will return to 126lbs and explore his featherweight options.

Edwards is confident that he has the right team in place to ensure that he capitalises on the momentum created in Riyadh.

“I've just signed with Anto Fitzpatrick. I just let him do what he does best and get me the best fights for the best money on the best stages. I'm just going to stay ready, live the life and take any opportunity that comes,” he said.

“It's entirely different to what I thought. I'm just so glad everything fell into place and happened the way it has.

“I'll be honest with you, I had a big win over Thomas Patrick. I was chuffed and happy but everything went a bit stale. I had five different months with five different dates, saying you could be fighting here, you could be fighting there.

“I was getting messed around. I wasn't really happy with the way the last year was going. I was thinking, ‘All this hard work for nothing,’ but now it's really paid off.

“I'm starting to feel like a proper boxer.”

One of boxing’s most well-worn cliches is that a fighter improves dramatically after collecting their first major title or coming out on top the first time the odds aren’t stacked in their favour.

The exact percentage of that improvement varies wildly between 10% and 25% depending on who you speak to but what is undeniable is the confidence of winning a major fight tends to elevate a boxer to a different level. Edwards may not have got the nod against McGrail but proof he has the ability and temperament to compete on the biggest stages has already done wonders for his self-belief.

“A hundred percent,” he confirmed.

“I definitely feel a lot more confident now than before so if I had to fight him again I'd be even more up for it and I was before the fight anyway, but I've learned a lot about myself. I've learned what I do right, what I do wrong and where I can improve. I've learned so much and I'm so much more confident, I just can't wait to fight.”