Adam Az a big chance to impress

NO British fighter has claimed a European title quicker or at a younger age.

Adam Azim won the European superlightweight title in November aged 21 in his 10th fight, pipping Naseem Hamed and Lennox Lewis, who took 12 bouts.

Azim (above) is a precocious talent, already talking about winning his first world title later this year.

It would be so easy to move him along aggressively. But at such an early stage in his career, that can lead to mistakes.

He is up against another unbeaten fighter at Wembley tonight in Enock Poulsen. The Dane is not in his class, but at some point Azim will find himself in a match that really tests him.

Paddy Donovan, the highly rated Irish welterweight who Azim has sparred with over many rounds, fought last week expecting to put his opponent away. I could see the shock on Donovan’s face when his punches bounced off Williams Herrera, a tough Argentine.

It was Donovan’s 14th fight and he was faced with a challenge he had never before met. He had to adapt. He is clever and eventually worked it out, catching Herrera with a body shot.

But all fighters progress at different rates – Shane Mcguigan has trained nine world champions. Every one different. There are a million variables in this game, and it takes time to figure it out.

People think boxing is about brutality. It is not. It’s a game of physical and intellectual chess.

I don’t believe Paulsen will present

Azim with anything like as stiff a challenge as Herrera did Donovan, but that moment will come soon enough. And we want him to be ready.

He’s had a long camp for this fight, sparring since the beginning of December. Paulsen is tall and rangy. We think he will back off so Azim will have to hunt him down. But after 170 rounds in sparring, including a 12-rounder last week, he is well prepared.

Sky have identified Azim as the next British superstar and want to see him win spectacularly. As do we.

He’s a natural fighter. He throws punches from all angles and is very quick. The combination of speed and power is what marks him out as special.

The demand in every fight now is to show that. He has to close down Paulsen and take him out. Simple as that. The world is watching and people want fireworks.