Bicester’s Darren ‘Daza’ Usher is the latest Oxfordshire boxer to trade in his vest and sign professional.

The 28-year-old light welterweight, who previously wore the colours of the Oxford Boxing Academy, signed on the dotted line with Swindon-based manager and promoter Keith Mayo.

Usher follows in the footsteps of (Steve) Marvin Mullins in joining the growing Horseshoe gym stable in Wiltshire.

And he echoed the Witney middleweight in the reasons for his choice of manager.

Usher explained: “Keith is the only professional promoter operating in the area and naturally when I box, I want to do so at a venue close to home.”

Usher did not follow the expected and conventional route into boxing.

He bypassed the schoolboy and junior ranks to take up the sport at 19.

An all-round sportsman during his schooldays, Usher embraced martial arts as a teenager – first Tae Kwan-do followed by kick-boxing.

But the appeal of the ‘Noble Art’ could not be ignored.

He joined the Wolvercote ABC (now the Oxford Boxing Academy) and won 19 of his 26 amateur bouts with the highlight being the Haringey Box Cup – a competition that attracts interest from overseas as well as the UK.

Usher is scheduled to have his professional baptism at the Olympiad Leisure Centre in Chippenham on Saturday, December 3.

He said: “This is the fulfilment of a long-standing ambition and I cannot wait.

“Steve (Mullins) is also boxing on the same card – something we often did as amateurs – so I’m certain that will help to put me at ease a bit on the night.”

Tickets priced at £35 and £60 (VIP) are available from Usher on 07722 871785 or Mullins on 07710 304212.