Dickens vs Kakas: Details of Gazza Dickens’ journey from Dubai to world title defense in Dublin

With that big barrier removed, the ‘Andytown Apache’ is in his sights as he puts the world title on the line for the first time.

“I don’t concede and he doesn’t concede” is the way Dickens sees Saturday night and given how the duo got to this juncture, it’s hard to argue with the pre-fight summary.

The Merseyside southpaw started out as a super bantamweight and racked up 16 wins before tasting defeat for the first, but not last, time to Kid Galahad.

That was for a British title in 2013, and although he would win the same belt three fights later against Josh Weil, his first foray into world title level in 2016 was a painful one, as he retired with a broken jaw in the second round against Guillermo Rigondeaux.

The move up to featherweight brought a second world title opportunity in 2021 when Galahad once again proved his decline, and while he did capture the IBO title, he would lose it the first time around to Hector Andres Sosa.

Some wondered if he had reached the ceiling of his expectations, but another step brought rewards, as after two wins at super featherweight, he rolled the dice and prevailed over Zelva Barrett before facing 2020 Olympic gold medalist Albert Batyrgaziev in Istanbul last summer.

A career-best performance saw him tear up the script with a fourth-round stoppage against the Russian to improve to 36 wins with five defeats, capturing the “interim” WBA title in the process that was later upgraded to full honors with Lamont Roach stripped.

All those years in the lower divisions had gotten him close, but he came back to life in the 4-pound (59 kg) ninth division.

“I think 12 years ago I fought for the British super bantamweight title,” he said.

“I saw the pictures today and thought, ‘How did you manage to achieve superhuman weight?’ ”

“What made me want to get to that weight? Maybe the idea that the bigger you are the better you are because of the amateur system, but that’s over three rounds.

“I’m glad I stepped up and had four fights in this division, so I feel strong.”