John Docherty (8-0, 6 KOs) has no intention of going the full eight rounds with Anthony Fox (8-12-4, 0 KOs) in their super-middleweight showdown at Matchroom Fight Camp this Friday.
Six of the Scot’s eight professional wins so far have come via knockout, but ending the three-fight win streak of Germany-born Fox will be a test of Docherty’s skills.
Fox overcame former Commonwealth super-middleweight champ Luke Blackledge in October 2018, Welsh Area titleholder Morgan Jones in March 2019 and then handed Duane Sinclair his first career defeat last June.
The Tony Sims-trained ‘Doc’ was taken the distance for the first time by Darryl Sharp one year ago and again vs. Lewis van Poetsch in October, but understands that returning to victories inside the scheduled distance at Mascalls could be the key to making his next outing a title match.
"Anthony Fox is just above journeyman level," Docherty told Matchroom during fight week interviews.
"I’m not going to say he’s great. I’m not going to say he’s not good. I’m here to do a job on him and knock him out.
“Me and Tony have been through our game plan and we know what we’re going to do. We’re going to walk through Anthony Fox and look good doing it.
He continued: "I’ve taken Anthony Fox seriously. He’s like a British champion to me.
“I’ve left everything in the gym. I know I’ve done everything right in this camp. Tony has been there pushing me on the whole way through.
“You’ll see on the night. I’ll be a completely different fighter. I’ll put on a top performance.
"I would love to make a statement with a knockout. He's on a good run of form and we all know how tough he is.
“He can box a bit too. If he comes to fight me I think I’ll knock him out very quickly. If he comes to box then he’ll survive for a bit and he might make it through a few rounds."
The main event of Matchroom’s third Fight Camp card sees Felix Cash (12-0, 8 KOs) put his Commonwealth middleweight strap on the line for the second time against challenger Jason Welborn (24-8, 7 KOs).
Elsewhere recent Matchroom signing Zelfa Barrett (23-1, 14 KOs) meets Ireland’s undefeated Eric Donovan (12-0, 7 KOs) for the IBF Intercontinental super-featherweight title, Watford super-bantamweight Shannon Courtenay (5-0, 2 KOs) faces Rachel Ball (5-1) and Northampton super-welterweight Kieron Conway (14-1-1, 3 KOs) meets Rotherham's Navid Mansouri (20-3-2, 6 KOs) for the WBA Intercontinental title.
Matchroom Boxing's Fight Camp 3, headlined by Cash vs Welborn, airs live on Sky Sports in the UK and on DAZN in the U.S. on Aug. 14.