At the age of 12, David Benavidez weighed 18st 6lb (117kg).

When the American steps into the ring on Saturday against Briton Anthony Yarde as the defending WBC light-heavyweight champion, he will be 12st 7lb (79kg).

Now 28 and a two-weight world champion, images on social media of Benavidez as an overweight 13-year-old training with his father show just how far he has come to get into the shape necessary to reach the top.

“At the time, I would have never imagined I would be a top fighter and one of the biggest in boxing today,” he told BBC Sport.

“I always had faith in myself. I always knew that with hard work, anything is possible. I’ve never given up on myself. I started off and I wasn’t in shape.

“I did have the will and the dedication to get to where I wanted to go. That’s the message I want to give to the kids.

“Other kids and other men could look at my story and take it into their life and achieve anything.”

As his older brother Jose thrived in the amateur ranks, plans were put in place for Benavidez to drop 100lb.

By the time he was 15 he was sparring with pros such as multiple middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin.

“I had been boxing since I was three, with my dad training me,” recalled the Phoenix-born fighter.

“I really believed in myself. When I got back into boxing aged 11, we started moving little by little and cutting the weight.

“When I lost that first 100lb, I was at 260lb and I got down to 168lb. That’s when I knew I got the biggest part out of the way, and now let’s continue to train and see where it takes us.

“I wasn’t thinking about being a world champion, I just worked hard every single day. This is not a sprint. I like to think of it as a marathon.”