Picture the scene: You're 19-1 and about to main event for the first time on Channel 5. Whilst warming up in the dressing room, a message reaches you just five minutes before call time that your opponent cannot compete and the fight is off! That's the scenario super-featherweight contender, Alex Dilmaghani found himself in when two-time world title challenger, Francisco Fonseca was withdrawn from their September main event through illness.

"I was due to walkout at 9pm," the twenty-eight year-old explains. "One minute I'm ready to get in there, I'm in the zone ready to put on a dominating performance and I get a call saying the fight's not on. Half of me was like, is this a joke? They can't be joking about something like this. I had to sit down; I couldn't believe it. They told me ten minutes later they're trying to get it back on for 10pm instead of 9pm, I warmed up and then the British Boxing Board of Control guys said 100% it's not going to happen tonight."

Months of hard work and preparation were lost. The disappointment and shock is still apparent when Dilmaghani reflects on the events of September 28th. Having looked his opponent in the eye at Friday's weigh-in, he expected nothing less than to look him in the eye across the ring the following night.

"He didn't look confident to me, but he's there at the weigh-in, you expect him to be there on fight night," the law graduate told me. "I could never imagine this to even happen. I have heard of fights to fall through after the weigh-in or on the morning (of the fight), but not when you're actually at the arena. I saw him at the hotel lobby, him and his team, before I went for the fight. I saw him and his team walk into the arena. I assumed I was fighting! I think, from now on, I won't assume anything until the guy is in the ring with me."

Francisco Fonseca isn't just a journeyman away fighter turning up for a quick pay day. The tough Nicaraguan has only lost to current world champions, Tevin Farmer and Gervonta Davis in high-profile world title bouts. Dilmaghani has his own reasons of why he thinks Fonseca pulled out.

"I will say this, in those two world title fights; he could come back from it, especially against Tank Davis. He gave it a good go and he could come back. He fights a world title contender in me (and loses) he goes down the pecking order more. It's harder for him to climb back." He continued, "None of his team got food poisoning, you know? I've been sick before in fights and still fought. Don't forget, if he doesn't fight, they don't get paid."

The fight itself was one of genuine interest to British boxing fans hoping to gauge just how good the half-Iranian southpaw really is. Thankfully, the fight has been rescheduled for November 16th at the famous old York Hall in London. They'll battle for the vacant IBO super-featherweight world championship, live on Channel 5 in the UK. Dilmaghani is grateful to his promoter, Mick Hennessy for making the fight as he knows that legitimate competition is hard to find.

"Mick (Hennessy) said, 'Of all the years I've been in boxing, you're the toughest I've had to match. It'll be difficult finding an opponent in 5-6 weeks'. Mick offers a lot of fights to people and people decline them. He not only tells me, but he put in Boxing News (magazine) that I'm the most difficult fighter he's ever had to match."

A win on November 16th will finally give Dilmaghani a bargaining chip when it comes to making fights - the IBO world title. It's funny how opponents are always that little bit easier to find when you have a championship to offer.

"When I win this fight, I can make (title) defences, I can go on to other (unification) fights," he pondered. "I've had a bit of bad luck with fights falling through, but after this fight and after I win, the momentum will keep there. Next, it'll be February. I've got a little break and then I'm back on it."

Dilmaghani didn't have a textbook education that you'd expect of most British pugilists. The fighter you'll see before you on Channel 5 on November 16th was crafted via brutally tough days spent training at the Romanza Gym in Mexico. He spent time working with the legendary Ignacio 'Nacho' Beristain and sparring the likes of multi-time world champion, Juan Manual Marquez.

"Mexico improved me the most because that was when I really took boxing seriously and that's when I saw what hunger really is," he said. "The mentality of the fighters out there, the hunger and the will, that (is what) I think is missing from a lot of fighters, not just in England. That was missing with me at the time, but now I've got it tenfold, you know? I've got that hunger and that will. I think a lot of people can benefit from taking themselves out of their comfort zone."

He encourages others to embrace the challenge of straying outside their own comfort zones.

"I don't buy into the whole 'skill beats will' thing; if anything, I think will beats skill. If people step outside of their comfort zone and do things that they don't want (to do) and go to places that are somewhat dangerous in a nasty environment with fighters that are wanting to become world champions, not just wanting but needing to, to feed their family - you get that toughness. In boxing you need that mental toughness because you'll always have naysayers and you'll be faced with difficulties in the ring."

Wise words from a boxer who has learnt his trade in an unorthodox fashion and hopes to prove to the world that he's amongst the upper echelon of super-featherweights. On November 16th, he gets the chance to show us.

Dilmaghani v Fonseca for the IBO 130lbs world championship is exclusively live in the UK on Channel 5 from 9pm on Saturday 16th November with the undercard starting at 7pm on 5Spike.