Jordan Gill is hoping 2017 will be the busiest – and most successful – year of his blossoming career.

The Chatteris star is considered as one of the UK’s most exciting prospects; he boasts a record of 16 victories and zero defeats, has sparred with some of the sport’s biggest names and has had his skills fine-tuned by the world-renowned Ingle Gym since moving into the paid ranks five years ago.

But Gill has admitted to going through a frustrating 2016 as he prepares to step into the ring for the first time in 11 months on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr’s IBO super middleweight title clash with Renold Quinlan – the debut show on ITV’s new pay-per-view channel, ITV Box Office, which is expected to pull in six million viewers.

“It has been frustrating for me being out for so long,” he said.

“I’ve had a few little injuries – which are expected when you train at this level – and I’ve had to wait for the show to be finalised.

“It’s also been quite hard to find opponents because I think I’m starting to build a reputation because of who I’ve been sparring with.”

Gill will be searching for a 17th straight win on Saturday when he goes head-to-head with Frenchman Adel Hadjouis (9-6-0) in what will be the his first rounds at featherweight, but the 22-year-old insists that his most exciting fights are yet to come.

“It will be a good test to see how I do at nine stone and will be good to get six rounds in the bag,” he said.

“The guy has got a winning record, has had some good wins and has never been stopped. He looks strong and has a lot of ambition which should work in my favour.

“I’m not planning on the fight going the distance but I won’t be going in there looking for a knockout.

“It’s the start of a very exciting year for me. Once this one is out the way then I’ll look to get straight back in – maybe in March or April – and build towards a domestic title at the end of the year. I want to have four or five fights this year.”

‘The Thrill’ began counting down the days to his return to the ring by popping back to his hometown and hosting a public workout at New Vision Gym.

Dozens of Gill’s fans and friends turned up to watch him showcase his skills, and some of the younger boxing fans in attendance were even given the chance to go toe-to-toe with the Fenland star.