​Leaner future on the cards for boxing prospect Taz Nadeem

But the rippling torso on show when Rotherham boxer enters the ring is undergoing something of a change.

Trainer Jamie Kennedy is toning down the muscle mass to ease him from light heavyweight to middleweight.

It's a big ask for any athlete, especially one who relies on power.

But it is achievable, says Kennedy.

Taz caught the headlines on his April debut at the Magna Centre when he poleaxed Russian Sergey Bannov with a huge shot in the first round.

He was under pressure to replicate that in his second fight but he had to settle for a points win instead.

Kennedy wants him to focus more on his boxing skills than raw punch power and says Taz may look slightly different when he fights in Sheffield next month.

"We want to get him out twice before Christmas, first in September in the DAZN show at the Cannon Arena, Sheffield, and then take him to 4+0 by the end of the year," he said. "We are moving him down to super middle and see where we are.

"We are changing his body shape. Most people want to put muscle on you. You don't get many who want to reduce it, but the way we are training him we are trying to cut a bit of muscle down."

Nadeem works as a butcher in Masbrough, which must provide the odd diet distraction, but says Kennedy: "He can make super middleweight by September and it is not impossible to go to middleweight after a couple of more fights.

"He has a good sponsor in Gorilla Energy. They only sponsor one other boxer (unbeaten Essex middleweight Hamzah Sheeraz) and Hamzah is rated to go top tier, so Taz is in good company. They are paying for his nutritional support."

Kennedy said his fighter was expected to make easy work of his second pro fight, against Polish opponent Patryk Polasik at York Hall, Bethnal Green, in May.

"When we turned up in London the hype was amazing. We walked into a press conference and it was just full-on – everybody was on about a KO. But I said to Taz that we don't fall into this – the second you go looking for knockouts, they don't come. They come when you work for them. You box your way into your fights.

"He was as calm and sharp as anything and I told our cuts man that we'd got him how we wanted him and he'd box sensibly.

“Taz hurt him early but then he went hunting, looking for the KO."

At 24, the former Cross Fit enthusiast from Moorgate has much to learn.

But his trainer says: "He is a very level-headed kid, even if he did fall into the trap of looking for that knockout.

"He has a very bright future and he is a pleasure to train. He listens, and I do believe the knockouts will come again.

"We have had a lot of good sparring for his September fight. We've been over to Glyn Rhodes gym in Sheffield. "It is all about just keeping patient – but he will put people to sleep, when people want to fight him.

"The Polish guy knew what to do to survive. He started running and that makes it hard."