By the end, Lee Selby was hoping to hoodwink everyone – his opponents, his team and even his own body.

The former IBF world champion, who walks around at about 11.5st, had starved himself to make the 9st featherweight limit for nearly a decade – shedding himself of excess but lately also sapping himself of any strength.

Battles with the scales are a painful byproduct of any fighter’s life. But Selby’s recent tales of sacrifice and suffering – in boxing, as in life – have been darker than most.

Lee Selby starved himself for nearly a decade to make the 9st featherweight limit

‘It got to that bad a point where I would have two meals – one of salad leaves and one normal meal,’ he recalls.

‘I would chew the normal food, spit it out, and just eat the lettuce leaves as if it was a substitute for the food I was missing out on. Just so I had something in my stomach.

‘I was trying to trick my body into thinking I was eating proper food when really I was just eating leaves. It was dangerous, but I was willing to do that to keep hold of the title.’ For so long making weight was a fight within itself, but one worth paying provided the wins kept coming.

They did and last year the Welshman sat atop the division, on the cusp of lucrative showdowns across the world. Not that it always felt that way.

Selby was reduced to a bloody shadow of his former self as Josh Warrington beat him last May

‘In fight week I would hear other fighters on the bill saying how great they feel and they are looking forward to the fight, whereas I was sitting at home dying, starving hungry, thinking: “How on earth can they be feeling like that, when I’m feeling like this?”‘ 

He adds: ‘The mental side is just so, so draining, thinking about weight all the time. I’d be pinching my skin feeling how much weight I’d put on after every meal. It was bad, it became obsessive.’ 

In recent years he became too weak to spar in the final few weeks of camp. And in the days before his most recent fights, he was too drained to do anything at all.

‘I was just lying around, the only bit of movement I would do was just to go to the gym to get the last bit of weight off,’ he laughs.

It was from those ashes that he would have to rise each time he faced a man trained to damage his body some more.

Selby hid his struggles from his team so they, like everyone, watched as his performances dipped, even as the wins kept coming.

Selby tricked his body to make weight and knew early on he’d struggle against Warrington

Then last May, the Welshman faced Josh Warrington at Elland Road. He was a heavy favourite to keep his belt and set up a money-spinning showdown with Carl Frampton but, almost immediately, Selby realised he had finally gone one too many times to the well.

As Warrington ploughed forward, the ‘Welsh Mayweather’ was reduced to a bloody shadow of his former self – his depleted body simply unable to do what his mind willed.

‘As soon as I threw my first jab, the spark was just gone,’ Selby admits.

‘My manager Jamie Sanigar – he didn’t say it at the time obviously – but after the fight he said as soon I was warming up on the pads it just wasn’t there.’ 

For 12 rounds Selby battled on, barely able to see his opponent as blood poured from two nasty cuts, his punches long drained of the power needed to stop the on-marching Warrington.

‘Even weight-drained, on a bad day, I’m still a good enough fighter to beat most fighters,’ the Welshman says.

Despite being weight-drained for years, the Welshman still defended his world title four times

‘I was still scraping through with my fitness and determination and natural boxing, I managed to get away with it for a long time.

‘So my trainer (Tony Borg) and manager sort of blame themselves for not recognising the signs but it’s all down to me.’ No one could ignore it following defeat by Warrington, a second loss Selby admits came almost as a relief.

It spelt the end of his time at featherweight and on Saturday, on the undercard of James DeGale vs Chris Eubank Jnr, Selby begins a new chapter against Omar Douglas having jumped two divisions to lightweight.

Traffic caused him to miss Wednesday’s final press conference but provided he makes it to the ring on time, Selby hopes the extra 9lbs will bring back his punch power and with it his best form.

But making lightweight remains a challenge, meaning his love of cheesecake and Nando’s must still be tempered, even if bigger portions are on the menu at last.

Little else has changed – he still trains between his hometown of Barry and Newport, where he made his debut in 2008.

The Welshman has now jumped up to lightweight and plans to become a two-weight champion

The 32-year-old still lives nearby, albeit having swapped a council estate for village life with his young family.

‘There’s no place like home is there? I’ve been all round the world but I couldn’t find myself settling anywhere but my home town,’ he admits.

‘I had my pro debut a stone’s throw away from the gym where I was training, at Newport Leisure Centre. I can remember it clearly – great memories – and I can appreciate what I’ve achieved more by starting like at the grassroots – no TV, no backing, hardly any money. I did it the hard way.’ It’s a story he hopes can inspire other youngsters in south Wales. But one marked by tragedy in recent times.

In July 2017, just four days before he faced Jonathan Victor Barros in London, Selby’s mother, Frankie, died suddenly.

Remarkably, the Welshman still defended his title in style before returning home to grieve. A week later his grandfather, Peter, passed away, too.

‘I don’t think it’s affected me or changed me, to be honest…. everybody goes through their trials and tribulations,’ Selby insists.

‘There are people in war zones losing their kids in front of them. It’s just part of life, and you just get on with it.’ This stoicism is a far cry from a decade ago when, after the death of his brother Michael, Selby sought solace in drink and drugs. A few months later he fell to his first defeat as his career threatened to derail.

Those days are passed but at 32, Selby must rise again after more personal and professional turmoil.

He admits that in years gone by he’d have rather died than lose. Now with people depending on him, his mindset has changed.

Selby pictured sparring ahead of making his lightweight debut this weekend at the O2 Arena

But his determination remains as he begins a new chapter, hoping to become a two-weight world champion.

That means more time away from his young family – and their stable of furry friends.

‘I’ve cut back a bit, I’ve got six chickens, seven dogs, a cat and four ferrets,’ he says.

When Selby is away the man who first took him to the gym, Craig Smyth, takes the reins: ‘He’s the only man brave enough to look after them!’ A keen hunter and shooter, the Welshman has no intention of turning his mini zoo into a business down the line (‘I’ve done enough work to last a lifetime already’). But for now he has a big enough job on his hands as he begins his assault on the lightweight division.

So what can fans expect from the new Lee Selby on Saturday night?

‘Hopefully you’ll see a bit of the old Lee Selby.’

Tickets are available from www.AXS.comand Inner Ringside/VIP Hospitality from www.sportandmusic.co.uk This fight will be shown exclusively on ITV Box Office. 

For further information and updates, please go to www.itvboxoffice.com