If you like a night out in London, you may know Walthamstow super-welterweight Humzah Awan by another name.

DJ A1 is proving to be popular in the capital’s clubs and after his next fight, he’s off to New York.

Awan is looking to make it back-to-back wins as a professional on Costas Evangelou’s show at Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Saturday, April 20 before jetting off to the States.

“I started DJing because I thought it would be fun.

“I bought some decks and would sit at home with them for hour after hour. I thought I was getting good so I thought: ‘Try to do house parties.’ People seemed to enjoy what I did, so I sent out messages to see if I could get into clubs. I thought: ‘I want to see how far I can take this.’”

Awan has got a monthly residency in Dalston, is about to start spinning the decks in Shoreditch and in May, he aims to conquer New York.

“Last year, the target was to start playing in clubs,” he said, “and now I’ve realised what level I'm at, I thought I want to do an international gig this year.

“I met a woman who offered to manage me and she’s organised the New York trip.

“It’s gone a lot further and a lot faster than I thought it would.”

Awan says being a DJ will benefit his boxing career.

“Boxing is so all consuming,” he said, “and it’s nice to have something else to think about that I enjoy.

“I do have a lot on my plate, but if I have to have a job, I want it to be a job I enjoy. Fighters get jobs they don’t like to support their boxing careers, but I don’t want to get up early and go to a job I hate all day long. I’m happier and more motivated by doing a job I love.”

Awan isn’t short of options. He has a degree in Aerospace Engineering and said: “Most of the people with that qualification end up working in finance in the city, or wherever maths is needed.

“But I’m the kind of person who if they want to do something, they do it – and I want to box. My mother and the rest of my family took some convincing to start with, but I’ve been boxing for eight years now.”

Awan says the turning point in his life came at the Edmonton Eagles gym.

“First day, I was there I was hitting the bags,” he said, “and Costas was watching me. When I went to leave a few hours later, he said: ‘You could make a good amateur boxer and a good professional.’ Before that, I had never thought that boxing, or any sport, was an option. But I went home that night and told my mum: ‘I’m going to be a boxer.’ She wasn’t happy !”

Awan made a winning start to his pro career last November, outpointing Luke Middleton over four rounds.

Middleton had won two of his first three points and came to fight, but Awan outpointed him.

“It went as well as I hoped it could,” he said. “You see people making their debuts look so tense and tight and I didn’t want that. I wanted to be relaxed and box – and that’s what I did. People were saying afterwards: ‘You should have knocked him out,’ but I got rounds under my belt and learned and for me, that did me more good than getting a knockout.”

To get tickets for Humzah's fight on April 20, contact 07727 102212.