Adam Azim has made headlines since bursting onto the British boxing scene four years ago.

At first, it was Azim’s blazing hand speed that attracted attention. But his impact saw him quickly pitched into a tit-for-tat battle of oneupmanship with his junior welterweight rival Dalton Smith.

Every fighter benefits greatly from having a talented, high profile rival but despite governing bodies best efforts, a meeting between the two is still clearly still some way away and it began to feel like the constant talk and maneuvering was overshadowing Azim’s development.

Ankle and wrist injuries have kept Azim (11-0, 8 KOs) out of the ring since he defended the European title against Enock Poulsen in February. As frustrating as it is for a young fighter to be forced onto the sidelines, the setbacks may have been his body’s way of telling him – and everyone around him – to slow down.

During his absence, Azim has relinquished the European title whilst Smith vacated the British belt after stopping a still dangerous Jose Zepeda to legitimize himself as a world title contender. The two are further away than they have been for some time.

It sounds like Azim has benefitted from the time away. Rather than constantly working towards a specific opponent, he has been able to work on his all round game and instead of having to defend his career path, self-improvement has been his sole focus.

On Oct. 19, Azim returns to action in a sensible, meaningful domestic showdown with recent world title challenger Ohara Davies.

The talk about Smith will inevitably flare up again, but for a few more weeks the talented Azim is at the center of his own story again.

“My mindset for this fight is completely different. I've been working really hard in the gym, improving every single day and working extremely hard,” Azim told BoxingScene. “The good thing when you're in the gym all the time is just that you take pieces of what you have to do in the ring and keep working on that. So what I've been working on is my footwork and I've been working on inside fighting, which is one of the elements that I want to be working on.

“As a complete package – as a pro fighter – it’s good to have an inside game which is good, as also having an outside game as well."

Barely a month seemed to pass without Azim scoring the type of spectacular early finish that provides manna from heaven for social media teams and fuel for the hype machine.

Back in November 2022, Azim racked up his sixth consecutive quick stoppage by blowing away the tough Rylan Charlton inside two rounds, and the search went out for opponents capable of withstanding the early storm and providing him with quality rounds.

The matchmakers certainly did their job. 

Santos Reyes got up off the floor and took him the 10-round distance, as did Adam Faniian. Franck Petitjean made it to the 10th round of their vacant European title fight before finally being overwhelmed, whilst a shoulder injury forced Enock Poulsen to retire after five rounds earlier this year. 

The rounds were invaluable. They gave Azim confidence in his gas tank, but they also taught him which parts of his style would be effective at championship level and which needed more work.

“Do you know what?" Azim said. "After the Rylan Charlton fight, I fought Santos Reyes, and when I dropped him, I'm like, ‘Yeah, I've got him again.’ But there's a point where these lot have hard heads, good chins, and there's a way where you have to take him out in a mature way. With me, I was just throwing punches, trying to get him out without thinking about it."

“If I fought him again, there would be a different story because I know how to take him out now, you know? If I stayed inside with him then, I would have got him out because I was just keeping it long, ticking over. It's those threes and fours of punches coming in – not just ones or twos – where there's shots that they don't see.

“Even with the Aram Faniian fight, that was a dangerous fight for me at an early stage. He’d had 24 fights, and he's only lost one in that time, so it was a good step-up opponent for me.

“Now the fights have gone longer, I can think about how to take them out and break them down – but that comes with maturity. At that time, I was still 19, 20. I'm 22 now, so I'm getting older and obviously getting my man strength, which is a good thing to have as well.

“I’m working really hard, so I know what to do in the ring now.”

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79