Genuine ticket sellers are one of the rarest commodities in boxing.

Even rarer is the local hero who is able to translate that crowd-pleasing persona to the big show and increase their popularity rather than blending into the pack.

Birmingham’s English light heavyweight champion, Troy Jones, 12-0 (6 KOs), has built up a massive support base boxing around the small halls and conference centres of the Midlands.

Last November, he was given a spot on the undercard of the WBC Interim title fight between Galal Yafai and Sunny Edwards and the chance to scale up his operation.

It went well. His fans followed him to Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena and Jones shifted over a thousand tickets for his title defence against Michael Stephenson. He could have sold many, many more. Most importantly, he retained his title with a wide unanimous decision.

Jones is a big character and was never likely to shrink under the spotlight. He enjoyed his first experience of fighting on a major card.

“I didn't feel out of place, whether it was the media days, the ring walk, the backstage stuff. It felt like I should have been there,” Jones told The Ring.

“I don't suffer with any nerves but I think subconsciously there's a bit more pressure in your head than you like to maybe think there is. But next time I’m on the big stage I’ll know about the fight week, I’ll know a bit about being backstage, the ring walk and all that and I'll probably be more relaxed about it.

“I’m a relaxed kid anyway. Things don't bother me. I'm in there to fight and I do the right preparation so I know that when I'm in there, I'm 110% ready.”

Given his aggressive style and massive fanbase, Jones is almost certain to spend the rest of his career fighting on big shows.

The 26 year-old is also still a long way from being the finished product. He and his trainer and manager, Lee Beard, have been working hard to round off the sharp edges to his style and add more layers to his game. Beard is one of the most technical coaches in Britain and Jones is steadily developing into a smarter, trickier fighter.

If and when he needs to make things rough and tough, Jones will happily put his hands up and walk forward but Beard has been instilling in him that he will be better served by picking his moments and engaging on his own terms.

Jones hasn’t put the win in his back pocket and moved on. He has thought back over the ten rounds and has learned lessons that will serve him well in the future.

“I just think the first few rounds I was a bit stuck in the mud. I didn't feel 100% from the first bell, then I warmed into the fight, but there's a lot of positives to take,” he said.

“A few negatives from my side, but I got the win. I think I won every round, myself. Maybe I could have shared one, but I think I won every round convincingly.

“I think I was trying to impress a bit as well from the first few rounds.

“Maybe I just thought I was going to walk through him and you can never think that. There’s a few things that I've done that I shouldn't have done and thoughts that I shouldn't have probably had. I wouldn't want to do that in the next one. It was a good learning fight to get me onto the big stage.

“I had a big support there. I think I handled it well. Could have done things a lot better, like I said but I'll tackle that into the next fight and I'll make sure that I do better number on the person I fight next time.”

The British light heavyweight division has been bubbling away for years.

WBO interim champion, Joshua Buatsi, fights Callum Smith in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this weekend whilst Anthony Yarde and Lyndon Arthur will complete their trilogy on the undercard of the delayed meeting between Chris Eubank Jnr and Conor Benn in April.

A couple of established names have departed the scene over the past couple of years and Jones finds himself amongst a large, ambitious group of fighters like Ben Whittaker, Ezra Taylor, Kyle Davies, Bradley Rae and Billy Deniz who are vying to replace them.

For a fighter looking to cement themselves in the top ten, the thought of working their way through such a deep division could be a daunting prospect. Jones doesn’t see things that way. When he surveys the scene he sees attainable targets at every level and an elite group of fighters who are coming to the end of their careers.

Jones popularity will get him a chance but he doesn’t want to rely on his ticket selling ability. He has placed his trust in Beard to move him sensibly outside the ring and also build him inside it so that when his chance comes, he is ready to grasp it.

“Its red-hot. That’s what I want. I don’t want an empty division, I want to match myself against them,” Jones said.

“I think that the ones that are world-level, they're not over the hill yet but they're getting there. You've got your Buatsi’s, your Callum Smith’s, your Anthony Yarde’s. They're getting towards the back end, later in their careers so I guess I'm part of the new ones coming forward and I'm confident that I'll be the one to come out top.

“I know all fighters say the same but I'll fight anyone, any place. I don't really care. It's up to my manager and coach [Lee] to match me with what he thinks is correct for my career.”