Rakeem Noble reaches a milestone in his pro boxing career this weekend, and he is cutting out his favourite foods in an effort to ensure it is a winning milestone.

The 25-year-old super lightweight from South Norwood faces Ivan Njegac on Saturday at York Hall in Bethnal Green.

The bout will be Noble’s 10th time in the pro ring, and if he comes out on top, it will mark a 10th successive win.

Little is known about Njegac other than the 23-year-old is 4-0-0, normally fights as a welterweight and is Croatia.

There may be a mystery waiting for him in the ring, Noble is leaving little to chance when it comes to his own preparation.

“I have been doing a few new things with my fitness regime, including a lot of training at altitude,” he said.

“But I have also been vegan since the end of September. It means I am only eating fruit and veg. There is no meat, apart from fish three times a week.

“It’s all about getting the natural energies from veg and greens, fruits, and see what effect that has on my body.

“The food is not processed, it is completely natural with high calories, and I can feel some change in things such as durability.”

He added: “I love meat and pizza – but for my fight, for my job, I will cut it out. But after the fight I will be indulging in a nice pepperoni pizza.”

Noble is starting to get noticed on the boxing circuit, and but for training overseas at the time, he would have appeared at the O2 Arena bill headlined by Anthony Joshua’s Commonwealth heavyweight win.

Noble said: “Getting into double figures is first big milestone – a lot of fighters do not even get to that stage in their career, and here I am going through with it.

“There are plans next year for something bigger, maybe a regional title or the chance to box on Sky in a continental fight.

“I had the opportunity to fight at the O2 in September, but I was not willing to take it because I was out of the country training, but it’s nice to be asked.

“It shows people are talking about me, it shows I am being considered. It’s just a matter of time before one pops up and I can take it.”

He added: “I have paved the way to move onto bigger things and beyond that. I’d like to believe that reaching the 10th fight is the first of many accomplishments.”