LEE McGregor is still a baby in boxing terms, even if he is set to become a father next month. Any down time which the 21-year-old fighting sensation from Saughton has from training camp in London are spent buying up cots and prams and such like, but he also hopes to have a shiny new belt in his possession by the time he and partner Amber welcome the new arrival into the world. On Saturday at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, he takes on Thomas Essomba with the Commonwealth bantamweight title on the line.

“November 9 is the due date so hopefully I will have a new belt for the baby coming,” says McGregor. “Now I am going to have a baby to provide for, it gives even more motivation for me, and make me even more determined. I am getting dragged to shops for prams and cots right now and it’s driving me mad. But it needs to be done.”

Essomba, a former English champion who fights out of Ryhope, Tyne and Wear, is a 30-year-old who has represented Cameroon at both the Beijing and Rio Olympics, but has lost four of his 12 pro bouts. By contrast, IBF world youth champion McGregor has only four fights on his resume, all of them wins, none of which have gone the distance. Some would say he is biting off more than he can chew at this stage of his career, but McGregor would say the opposite. He is happy to be fast-tracked in the manner of his stablemate Josh Taylor, and he isn’t just planning this fight, he also has one eye on the next one down the line: a crack at his fellow Scot Kash Farooq, a recent victor against Jamie Wilson, for the British bantamweight title.

“This is a hard fight, he is no mug, a good fighter,” says McGregor. “Essomba has two Olympics under his belt, so he has definitely got the edge in terms of experience. But I just believe I win where it matters and I have a lot more than it says down there on paper.

“I have been sparring 10, 12 rounds against some good fighters and I feel ready to make a major statement. I feel in this fight I have a chance to show what I can really do, because I have not really been hit yet.

“I am a lot bigger than him too [5ft 7in to 5ft 4in] so I need to be clever and keep it long, but that doesn’t mean I won’t just stand there and have a pop at him if the chance arises. I think it will be cagey for a couple of rounds but once we get going and get in a rhythm I am going to break him down and really take over the longer the fight goes.

“Winning the Commonwealth title would give me a bargaining tool to get that British title. I want to get the British and keep hold of it, then go the whole way. But while I want to keep going at this rapid pace, I don’t want to go too quick, I am still young.

“With the British title staying in Scotland, that [Farooq] is the fight I would want after this. One hundred per cent in fact, I would have taken that fight before this fight. Anyone in Britain bar those at world level I am willing to fight right now.”

McGregor, a Hearts fan pleased by the Tynecastle club’s strong start to the season, is sure to carry a decent travelling support to Bethnal Green for the occasion, one of which might just be his pal Jason Cummings, now playing his football at Peterborough United. Footage on social media last month pictured Cummings smashing up his flat and throwing his TV out of the window after a row with his girlfriend but McGregor is sure he will be fine.

“It just seems like a stupid mistake. He has got the right people around, him, I am obviously there if he needs to speak to me at any point,” said McGregor. “I don’t’ know exactly what happened, but you do anything when you are in the public eye and it gets pounced on. I am sure it will blow over and be forgotten about.”