Ryan Walsh is a boxing 'thinker' – and his thoughts on his next opponent couldn't be more different from what he thinks about his last one.

The Cromer fighter puts his British featherweight title on the line at the 02 on Saturday against Watford's Reece Bellotti, an 'honest fighter', says Walsh.

Turn the clock back to his drawn February fight against Isaac Lowe and the assessment is different: Walsh didn't like the result, and the fact Lowe pulled out of scheduled rematch to follow Tyson Fury on his recent American adventure, does little to change his mood. The Lowe fight was notable for a social media spat between the two and Walsh believes he learned a lesson.

'I made it personal and it is a very good life lesson,' he said. 'They say never argue with idiots because they will take you down to their level – good lesson, I will never do that again. I was taken down to a stupid level and then when the fight came, after all his brave words, the actions were totally different, they were cowardly in some cases I think.

'You only have to review what was said and review the video of what was done and you will see there was only one man trying to back up his actions and another man trying to steal and thieve.'

Bellotti, he believes, is a different kettle of fish. The 28-year-old has 13 wins – 11 by knockout – and a defeat on his record. The loss to Ryan Doyle in the summer cost Bellotti his Commonwealth crown so he will be keen to punch his way back into the domestic mix.

'You look at somebody and judge the sort of things you can get information on, so I can look at this guy and know straight away there is an honesty about him,' he said. 'In any sport, in anything in life, you need to be honest with yourself, which I think this kid is going to be.

'So I expect a really tough hard night, but stylistically I am excited because if you go on his fights and my fights we should come together really well.

'To be honest I want to be in good fights, I want to fight good fighters and I know he is a good fighter, which should give me a good fight.'

The respect is refreshingly mutual. 'Ryan is a great champion, I'm expecting the toughest fight of my career. I just knew it wasn't me against Doyle so I wanted to prove to everyone that I'm better than what I was that night,' Bellotti said.