Jack Catterall ready for return to ring after sparring with Floyd Mayweather, Kell Brook and Saul Alvarez

Catterall takes on Gabriel Fernando Punalef Calfin at the Manchester Velodrome on Saturday in his first bout since he defeated another Argentinian, Cesar David Inalef, in March.

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But since then the 22-year-old has had the experience of a lifetime after flying out to Las Vegas to spar with Mayweather ahead of the super fight with Manny Pacquiao.

The light welterweight immediately headed on to San Diego where he did more sparring with another world star, Alvarez.

Then for good measure he shared the ring with Kell Brook on his return to England.

Catterall, who has won the WBO intercontinental and WBO European titles in his last two bouts, said: “Sparring against the world’s top fighters was the best experience that I could have had at this stage of my career.

“It was like a university degree crammed into six weeks but what I got back is experience that for a young fighter you just can’t buy. It’s a massive boost to my confidence.

“Floyd is the greatest fighter of the modern era and it was an honour to share a ring with him.

“He’s a wizard in terms of defence and to get near him was very hard but I learned plenty from him.

“It was totally different sparring with Alvarez. He’s a really top guy and very respectful but inside the ring he’s a powerful fighter with a great offence and defence.

“Against Alvarez I could retain my own style, which suited me more and we had some great spars.”

Catterall defends his intercontinental belt against Calfin, who is fighting outside of Argentina for the first time in his career tonight.

“Calfin is another challenger that I have to deal with efficiently as I continue on the path towards the world title,” Catterall said.

“It’s important to me that I put on a good performance against him and show my talent and potential as a future world champion. I know that I can’t slip up against him.”