William Crolla was just a day or two removed from an epic Planes, Trains and Automobiles-style trip across Europe to watch his beloved Manchester United lose to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final in Bilbao, Spain when arriving at the press conference to officially announce his fight with Fraser Wilkinson.

"It's probably done me a favour on the diet," Crolla (8-0, 6 KOs) told The Ring about the endless hours spent nursing a lone bottle of water on coaches and planes whilst his friends and fellow fans enjoyed themselves fully.

"I was already training over here but I had a great time with the lads and that's what it's about. The game is always the worst part, especially when United play like that."

Talk of this weekend's fight with Wilkinson (11-2, 2 KOs) as part of the Jack Catterall-Harlem Eubank undercard quickly got the junior middleweight's mind back to business.

"This fight's another good step up," Crolla said. "He's the Scottish champion, had 13 fights and won 11, been 10 rounds a few times. I believe it's a great fight for me, it's going to show what I'm about. It's a fight I want to get the KO train going again. I know I've been saying it was good winning on points, but I want it back again.

"I prefer knocking people out. It's better than winning on points."

The decision victory Crolla is referencing came in March when he was taken six rounds by the decent Emmanuel Zion (6-4, 3 KOs). The win brought a run of six consecutive quick knockouts to an end.

Crolla was a solid amateur who drifted away from the sport in his teens. Realising that he would be cheating himself if he didn’t attempt to make the most of his talent, he got back in the gym and began training under his brother, former WBA lightweight champion Anthony.

Crolla is a confident, lively character and his family pedigree is beyond question but the impact he has made in a relatively short amount of time has still taken some by surprise.

The 26-year-old has proven himself to be a legitimately heavy-handed fighter with one punch power in both hands.

The six rounds he shared with Zion were the longest he has ever spent involved in a real fight and proved extremely useful.

"It done me great. I learnt loads but felt it was still a good performance. I thought the referee's scorecard was far too close, didn't think it was ever just one point in it. I thought I won four rounds to two, minimum," Crolla said.

"My dad's a pretty straight talker. He’d tell you if he thought you boxed s—t or if he didn't think you won. My dad had it 5-1, I watched it back and there were some close rounds but felt I had done a bit of work in them all.

"But credit to Emmanuel Zion. If anyone gives him notice like that, he'll upset the apple cart a few times. Believe me, he's awkward. It was good to be in a fight like that and it also show that I have got a bit about me. I can stick in there when it gets tough.

"It was a great learning fight and I want plenty more of them. There was no clocking off early on that Friday night. It was a full shift plus a bit of overtime."

Crolla's brother and trainer Anthony has seen him box hundreds of rounds in the gym but watching him go through six give and take rounds with an ambitious opponent will have provided him with plenty of teaching points.

Sometimes however, going the distance doesn't highlight things that need altering or changing. There will be technical and tactical tweaks to be made as he moves on through his career but confidence is the biggest weapon in a boxer's arsenal and completing those rounds at a fast clip will have done wonders for Crolla's self-belief.

Zion was able to absorb Crolla's power and also posed questions about his stamina, desire and boxing intelligence. Having been able to answer them all, Crolla believes he is on the right course and is looking forward to proving it against Wilkinson.

"There's loads to work on. It's the first time I've gone six rounds in so many years so we see so much more rather than just a round,” he said.

"There's loads to work on but there's a lot of positives to take away from it as well. I'll be going in there like I always do. Ready, game and strong. I believe if I do that and the best version of me turns up, then I do a job on a good lad.”