Duane Green suffered the highs and lows of boxing – before he had even stepped into the ring for his debut.

The 30-year-old is a latecomer to the sport, but on the morning of his fight against Colchester's Drew Campbell, it looked like his dream of a pro career was about to get off to a false start over a problem with his paperwork.

'They had a bit of trouble with my medical form,' he said. 'A doctor filled it in but they couldn't read his writing so they faxed (trainer) Graham Everett and he had to write it all out again.

'I was absolutely gutted when the problem came up, but when Graham gave me the news that it was back on I was buzzing.'

Green, a forklift driver in the city, moved into boxing after five years 'on and off' kickboxing.

'I did that for about five years but I stopped because I lost half of my fights – I didn't do enough kicks,' he said. 'I then had some white collars then I turned pro – I have had no amateur experience at all.

'I thought I would give boxing a go and until I moved to Graham I didn't know how to defend myself. Once I did and started having white collar and harder fights, I said to him if I beat this one boy who was unbeaten I would turn pro – I drew with the boy and in the rematch I beat him.'

There were few signs of nerves from the middleweight as he squared up to Campbell.

'I wasn't nervous, I was just happy to be in there after what had happened in the morning,' he said. 'I couldn't finish him off – he was strong – and looking back I wish I had done a little bit more running because that last round I moved well, but I was a bit tired. It is a different ball game when you are in there and someone is hitting you back.

'But this is the best feeling in the world and I would like to get a living out of it – I might only be a journeyman, but I will be a tough journeyman.'