Boxing is a sport which lends itself to global fame, with personalities as much as performances selling tickets and elevating fighters to household names.

Of course, talent and sacrifice will, Reece Bellotti insists, always lay the foundation for any route to the top of the professional game.

The South Oxhey featherweight has so far made serene progress in his efforts to do just that, and the next step on the journey comes in the form of Commonwealth title defence against Ben Jones on February 3.

For Bellotti, a man billed for the very top by the likes of Anthony Joshua and looking to preserve a pristine record in his 12th professional bout, dominating a division swamped in talent is an attainable target.

“Of course everyone in sport aims to become a superstar or a worldwide name,” Bellotti said. “I 100 per cent back myself and every fighter has their own self-confidence. I believe I can beat anyone.

“Personally, I think the featherweight division is one of the hardest in world boxing. Even domestically, you have Scott Quigg, Carl Frampton, Lee Selby and Josh Warrington to name a few.

“There are so many good names and I am just glad to be in that mix and it makes for great fights for me in the future.”

Ambitions of global acclaim are all well and good, but Bellotti’s head remains very much in the here and now and the challenge Jones will bring to London’s O2 Arena next month.

A veteran of 29 bouts, Jones, like all of Bellotti’s opponents to date, comes into the fight with experience on his side.

His record of 22-6-1 is further indication the 35-year-old will be no pushover as Bellotti defends his Commonwealth crown for the first time.

That record boasts 10 scalps by way of stoppage and Jones is a man who, similarly to Bellotti, who also has 10 knockouts to his name, looks to fight on the front foot.

Bellotti, therefore, doesn’t expect his latest shift in the ring to last the duration and is confident the duo will put on a good show.

“As the champion you would normally be favoured but he has a level of experience which will balance it out, so you could say it’s a 50/50 fight,” the 27-year-old said.

“I am expecting an open fight and by the record it should be an entertaining fight which hopefully ends in a knockout in my favour.

“I think the styles we box with means a knockout is likely to happen. I am sure our approaches will gel well and it will end with a stoppage rather than going the distance.”

Records, of course, only count for so much in the ring, but a brief glance at Bellotti and Jones’ most recent outings provides as useful as a comparison point as possible.

Both men faced off against Jason Cunningham in their last fights, with Bellotti securing a sixth round stoppage to win the Commonwealth title and Jones losing in a split decision.

Bellotti says the respective fights with Cunningham provides a confidence boost, but again highlights Jones’ experience as an equaliser.

“Obviously I beat the person who beat Ben Jones to win the belt and that will give me a little bit of an edge,” he said.

“I don’t think it will have too much of an impact. Again, he has been in fights before against people who have beaten people he has lost to. That’s why experience is priceless in big fights.”

While focus will remain solely on Jones until February 3, the sense 2018 could be a transformative year in Bellotti’s career is a tangible one.

Promoter Eddie Hearn has talked up his potential, and Bellotti says having a world title shot pencilled in the calendar for 2019 is the target before the year is out.

He said: “By the end of the year I would like to have boxed for a European belt and be in the verge of boxing for a world title.”