ALLOW me to introduce you to Paul Barber and Evan Jays, two affable Pitsea lads who have kindly given me an hour of their time.

Both make me feel welcome as we prepare to chat in the locker room at Eurofitness Gym in Basildon about the sport which unites them.

However, lace the pair up with gloves inside a ring, and they transform themselves into fighting machines who combine science and savagery in one of the fiercest and most competitive sporting cauldrons out there, the martial art Muay Thai.

Neither are fly by night merchants, as their pedigree in the sport has taken them from south Essex and put them on the world stage.

As long as he passes mandatory medical tests, Paul “Bloodydemon” Barber hopes to head out to America to take on world lightweight champion Sergio Wietzen next month in the sport’s Lion Fight series.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Wietzen’s status as world champion boasting an impressive record of 41 wins from 57 fights would have him worried.

However Barber, who first entered the sport aged 24, seeking salvation from “a bit of bother.”

Five years later, he is unfazed and focused on his shot at glory stateside on July 8.

The 29-year-old said: “I came into the sport quite late, and I fell in love with it. I just wished I had got into it when I was younger. To be honest I was quite a fiery boy when I was younger, and I got into a bit of bother as a teenager.

“You do see a lot of teenagers go the prison and I could see some of my friends spending a lot time in pubs and I just got bored with it.

“The fight is a big step up for me, my opponent is world class level. But I have had two good wins this year to set me up and I feel as though I deserve the opportunity.

“My fight career is quite late now, so I need to cram as much in as possible and make the most of it.”

Outside of the ring Barber is a civil engineer who works to repair roads he pounds regularly in his gruelling training regime – consisting of twice daily runs, weights and sparring.

Once his fight career over, his ambition is to set up a gym and get youngsters off the streets.

He said: “Combining my work with training is really tough, and it means I am usually tired. So long term I am looking to get into coaching.

“If there was more to offer youngsters in Basildon, they would change from having a life on the treats. There’s nothing better than learning a martial art which gives you that discipline and allows you to let off some steam.

“In the last four or five years Muay Thai has grown in this country, and it would be great to have another Basildon fighter on the circuit."

Both Basildon and the sport can count on one youngster who is aiming to power through the world rankings.

Evan Jays is never far from the ring, he’s completing an apprenticeship in a gym in Bexley where he passes on his ringcraft to youngsters taking their tentative first steps in the sport.

If Barber’s shot at stardom has come late in the day, Jays’s road to success seems set very early.

The former two-time world junior champion has calmness that belies his 17 years, but possesses a steely determination to reach the very top of the fight game.

He said: “I’ve always done martial arts, right from a young age. I got my junior blackbelt in karate, but it wasn’t really my thing.

“I looked into kick boxing, which I enjoyed but still was looking for that spark. It came when I started Muay Thai and have been competing since I was eight years old and haven’t looked back.

“My goal is to get to the very top and be the best I can.”

Whatever comes in both of their careers, however distinguished, however brief, both Barber and Jays will still remain two friendly Pitsea lads.