Only the most ardent followers of boxing will know of Jayden Price, the 14-year-old from Gloucester.
But, in three years, this multiple English youth champion is aiming to top the podium at the Los Angeles Olympics.
It won’t, however, be God Save The King playing. No Team GB vest will be worn.
Because this is an Olympic dream diverting from southwest England via the Middle East.
And now, in exclusive interviews with Sky News, it is time for Jayden to reveal all with his coach and father.
“After the European Championships last year, Bahrain reached out to us wanting to sign me to represent their country. So now I represent Bahrain,” Jayden explains.
“Obviously it’s a special feeling to feel like I’m the one that’s been reached out to and chosen to represent them.”
It is a decision, given his family’s lack of previous connections to the Gulf nation, that has led to them receiving some disparaging comments.
There are, of course, financial motivations such as facilitating and funding Jayden’s sporting ambitions, while prioritising his wellbeing and private tuition.
It was barely a month ago that a young life was transformed with contracts signed in the presence of Bahraini royalty.
Jayden says: “The agreements have been going on for so long, I had time to think, ‘OK this is actually going on now’. Time to get used to it.”
Social media caught the attention of Bahrain Olympic Committee chair
Jayden’s journey being documented by his father, Lee Price, on social media apparently caught the attention of Bahrain Olympic Committee chairman Sheikh Khaled bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who was keen to engage more youngsters in sport.
“As discussions progressed, the focus shifted toward Jayden’s long-term ambitions – particularly his aspirations to compete at the Olympic level,” Mr Price says. “The Bahraini sporting authorities then explored how they could support Jayden in achieving these goals.
“Bahrain’s support package would allow Jayden to maintain his amateur status through to the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, aligning with his long-term development and Olympic ambitions.”
‘It’s good to secure it’
One thought was that Jayden wouldn’t make the cut yet for Team GB’s LA 2028 squad and he would need to go professional to start earning money before the 2032 Games.
“It would have been difficult, because on the GB setup there are a lot of good boys,” he says. “I think I could have got there but there was a risk that I couldn’t have. So it’s good to secure it.”
Bahrain’s lucrative deal opens up the possibility of two Olympic appearances while staying in the safer amateur ranks longer, with larger and more padded gloves softening blows.
But inevitably when making such a decision, financial factors enter the conversation.
“In addition to the benefits of more international exposure, representing a different country can help create a distinctive personal brand,” Mr Price says. “This can open doors to sponsorship opportunities from the Middle East and beyond.”
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All eight of Bahrain’s Olympic medals have been won by imported athletes
Britain, for decades, has chased and embraced investment from the Middle East, particularly in sport. So this could be considered reversing the flow of the pipeline and sharing sporting talent in the other direction.
And overseas-born athletes, with no previous connections to Britain, have competed for Team GB.
There is just a greater reliance in the former British protectorate with oil and gas wealth to spend and a population of Bahrainis under 800,000.
All eight Olympic medals ever won by Bahrain have been won by imported athletes. Can Jayden deliver their first in boxing?
“That was the aim for them, to be fair, to hopefully bring me over and hopefully I can start winning them a lot of medals,” he says.
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First gold medal won under Bahrain flag
When we meet, there is already a first gold medal won under the flag of Bahrain in the collection of honours we are filming.
Under the radar, just a couple of weeks earlier, Jayden was in the Jordanian capital Amman competing in an Asian boxing championship and winning the U15s 43kg class.
“Obviously things like the national anthem, I have to get used to that,” he says.
“But just being able to compete for Bahrain now, I think it’s a great opportunity.”
Facing UK opponent ‘would be a little awkward’
How would it feel facing a British opponent in the Olympic final?
“Obviously,” he says. “It would be a little bit awkward.”
But on hand to guide Jayden is a long-standing coach.
Now there are trips to Manama for Amin Khan from his base at the Truth Boxing Club in the shadow of Gloucester Cathedral.
Wearing a Bahrain Olympic Committee T-shirt, the scepticism and concerns are addressed directly.
“There’s going to be a lot of questions, of course,” Mr Khan says.
“But this is about what’s best for Jayden and we want to give him that opportunity where he can perform at a very high level from a very early age and continue to develop.
“Boxing’s still like a working-class sport, but it obviously is costly and obviously this opportunity does give financial benefits but more so is the benefits that I can offer for him in terms of career opportunity and getting to the Olympics.”
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‘He’s the chosen one’
Precise figures are not mentioned in any conversations. Only that Jayden’s family will be comfortable without pressure on him to seek work.
“He can stay amateur until the age of 21,” Mr Khan says. “In England you probably wouldn’t have been able to do that because you’re then put under pressure of turning pro and trying to earn an income because there’s not much financial backing.
“And also it’s a unique selling point as well. He’s the poster boy of Bahrain, he’s the chosen one.”
Aspirations to be ‘one of the greatest’
There is little sign of a swagger or boastfulness in almost three hours spent with Jayden during his first filming session of this kind on such a delicate, life-changing matter.
Already 66 of 70 boxing contests have been won after a combat journey that began in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts aged six.
How will his career look two decades from now, by the age of 34?
“Hopefully be retired and I would have been the former undisputed champion,” he says. “Just one of the greatest.”
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Greatness that will be achieved not under the flag of Great Britain but a country he only visited for the first time last month.
Transferring sporting allegiance like this will provoke a reaction.
The family wants the public to understand that the money on offer was too irresistible to turn down.
But this is the support needed to help Jayden become a boxing star – prioritising his welfare and wellbeing beyond the growing wealth.
