Heavyweight prospect Alen Babic (3-0, 3 KOs) and his Matchroom Fight Camp opponent Shawndell Winters (13-3-9, 12 KOs) raised the anticipation levels for their eight-round clash on the undercard of Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin and Katie Taylor vs. Delfine Persoon with a heated war of words — most of them unprintable.
The pair will face off in the second bout of a five-fight card live on Sky Box Office and DAZN on Saturday, and after Winters hogged most of the mic time at the final pre-fight press conference on Thursday, things quickly escalated into mudslinging.
Winters, 39, didn't begin his professional career until he was 34, and his last outing was a defeat to former world champion Joseph Parker in February on the Mikey Garcia-Jessie Vargas undercard.
"I don’t wanna harp on about the Parker defeat, but I wasn’t 100 per cent," Winters said. "If people think that was me at my best, people are in for a rude awakening.
"The reality is that I like to fight. I can box, but back in Chicago I always liked to fight. I was beating up professional champions while in the gym in Chicago.
"I can move, I’m mobile, but I don’t have to do all the moving. I’ve got more knockouts than Babic has fights. Triple, maybe quadruple in fact. My skills are certified.
"He says he’s gonna walk me down. That’s what he’s supposed to say. He’s supposed to say he’ll knock me out. He thinks he’ll beat me, but that’s not gonna happen."
When Whyte protege Babic finally got the chance to speak, it was soon clear he was fed up with hearing the sound of Winters' voice.
"I’ll tell him my gameplan," Babic explained. "It’s not about [preparing for] him, it’s about me. I will knock everyone out. The gameplan won't change."
This led to Winters taunting Babic off-mic with every other word seemingly beginning with the letter "F". At one point, he managed to hold off on the swearing to proclaim that his Saturday opponent had only "knocked out three cab drivers".
In turn, Babic's impatience levels rose further.
The unbeaten 29-year-old barked: "What is this, a cartoon or something?
"I don’t understand you, because you’re stupid. I’m not known for losing. You’re known for losing to Parker.
"You don’t know what the smoke is, but you’re going to see it. You’re slow. S-L-A-O (sic).
"If I lose to Shawndell, I will quit boxing. I will f—ing knock you out. I will never lose to Shawndell Winters. I want to fight the guys who beat you up like a baby."
Surprisingly, after a calming talk from moderator and promotor Eddie Hearn, the two bruisers behaved themselves for the traditional face-off — and even shook hands.
Babic then joined hosts Chris Lloyd and Darren Barker to further discuss the biggest test of his fledgling pro career so far.
"This fight will be Joe Frazier all the way," explained Babic. "Straight to the centre, in one second.
"I don’t like him, he talks too much. I respect him, he’s a bit older, but I will knock him out. I’ve never been knocked down and I don’t think I ever will be."
Matchroom Fight Camp 4, headlined by Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin and Katie Taylor vs. Delfine Persoon, airs live on Sky Sports Box Office and DAZN in the U.S. on Aug. 22.