Rylan Charlton, 28, from Norwich, joins Carl Greaves’ stable of fighters in Newark

A fighter with the potential to ‘be a force in the lightweight division’ has joined Carl Greaves’ stable.

Rylan Charlton, 28, from Norwich, will be trained by Newark’s Greaves as he looks to bounce back from the first defeat of his professional career.

Greaves said he was excited about the prospect of training somebody with championship qualities.

“He will be a big force — for sure,” said Greaves.

“He has only had eight professional fights, six wins, one draw and one defeat.

“He knows the draw and the defeat came when he was fighting at the wrong weight, but that is something we will assess.

“I believe he can become a force in the lightweight division.”

Charlton, who last fought on the David Avanesyan-Josh Kelly undercard, suffered the first defeat of their career on the night, an eighth-round stoppage against the undefeated welterweight Florian Marku.

Greaves said he saw the potential and, after a successful trial session at his Newark base, the two came to an agreement.

“He really enjoyed the session we had,” said Greaves.

“He will come from Norwich once or twice a week and then when he has a fight date set he will come and live here (in Newark) full time while we train.

“He is promoted by Matchroom and Eddie Hearn, who has made it clear that he really likes him.

“He stopped Joe Laws on a Matchroom show at short notice, and then he was talked into staying at the weight to fight Florian, but he wasn’t right and they knew that.

“He is a great kid and he has a lot of character. The reaction to the announcement has been great as well.

“He is very powerful. He has the nickname pint-sized powerhouse, which is just a great nickname.

“In the session, we had together I couldn’t believe how strong and heavy-handed he was.

“He needs a little bit of polishing up and that will be my job, but he can have it all.

“One thing I could tell, especially during the fight with Florian, was while he was under the cosh he showed his will to win.

“You can’t teach desire and you can’t teach heart, so we have a real fighter on our hands here and it is someone who the town can support.”