Steve Maylett knows what it takes to reach the top.

Over the years, the Manchester-based trainer has quietly built a reputation as one of Britain’s most respected coaches but is still most well-known for guiding Terry Flanagan to the WBO lightweight title.

Flanagan’s retirement left The Finest Gym without a headline attraction but the hard work never stopped. Having taken his friend to a world title, Maylett quietly got on with the job of creating more champions.

Over the past 12 months, the endless hours spent in the gym have begun to pay dividends.

Jack Rafferty has won the British and Commonwealth junior welterweight titles and extended the longest unbeaten run in British boxing. Zak Miller quickly followed suit. The 28-year-old won the English featherweight title and then added the British and Commonwealth belts by beating the tough Masood Abdullah.

This weekend, Maylett will be in the corner as Liam Taylor (28-2-1, 14 KOs) aims to become the gym’s third reigning British champion when he challenges welterweight titleholder, Conah Walker (15-3-1, 6 KOs), in Birmingham. DAZN will stream the Matchroom show globally.

“That's what we're aiming for. We’ve put the work in the last couple of years. People think it all happens overnight but we've just stayed true to the game of boxing and the lads don't miss a day,” Maylett told The Ring.

“They’re in here all the time and I've always told them, 'If you stick with it, I know that when you get your opportunity, you'll take it'.

“Liam's has been a long time coming over the last couple of years.”

This will be Taylor’s second crack at the British welterweight title. In 2019 he dropped then champion, Chris Jenkins, early and was leading on the scorecards when an accidental clash of head opened up the Welshman’s notoriously fragile eyebrow with just four seconds remaining in the 4th round.

The fight was immediately stopped and declared a technical draw. Had Jenkins made it to the end of the round, the fight would have gone to the scorecards and Taylor would have become the champion.

Taylor wasn’t given an immediate rematch and those four seconds have turned into more than five years.

“We've had to get Liam tick over fights. We've had to work his way through the rankings,” Maylett said. “He won the WBO European title and I thought he was going to get made mandatory for the British again, which he didn't.

“He had to get another fight and then he got made mandatory.”

Apart from a shot to nothing European title fight with world level David Avanesyan in 2021, Taylor has battled away in the background since the fight with Jenkins. The 2nd-round loss to Avanesyan didn’t kill his ambition and he has has patiently waited for another chance.

Maylett has continued to work with Taylor and has got him to Saturday’s fight in the best shape he could be.

“I know how good he is. He's sparred numerous world champions. He's done stuff with Terry Flanagan, Kell Brook, Josh Taylor and Liam Smith,” he said.

“They are four world-class fighters and he’s - honestly - always done really, really well with them. He’s sparred European champions, he’s sparred British champions. That's what level Liam Taylor's at.

“He's not had the rub of the green but he's one of the best fighters I've ever had in the gym.

“He's physically strong and he's always had a good boxing brain, Liam. He understands boxing. He's been around it for years. He boxed at a good level as an amateur and he knows the game.

“But at the end of the day, it's just another fight. It's just another camp. It’s what we do.”

The Finest Gym is a demanding place to go to work every day. Maylett lives and breathes the sport and admits that he spends almost every waking hour working out ways to improve his fighters.

He expects them to match his level of dedication and although boxers from the gym are renowned for being physically fit and strong, Maylett also tests them mentally.

The shared hard work results in a strong team atmosphere. Taylor is the longest serving member of the gym and the difficult first months Rafferty and Miller spent training alongside him will have taught them just what it takes to succeed.

If he can join them as a reigning British champion, it would be an extremely popular win and a reward for years of hard work.

“They've been in the gym together now for years and we have put the work in. We've done it the hard way,” Maylett said.

“It’s building blocks. I think when they come in they find it tough, they find it hard.

“They end up coming through it when some days they probably think, 'I can't keep doing this' but what happens is they see themselves getting better. I’ll take them sparring against a British level fighter or a European level fighter and the next thing you know, they've done really well.

“They might go back three months later and spar them again and do even better so it’s that little ray of light.'"This is hard as hell but it's paying off, it's working'.

“Then they win a little title and they know that it's working. I say, 'If you want to become a champion, you've got to train like a world champion'.”