Navid Mansouri says his experience advantage will be the deciding factor in his 10-rounder against Kieron Conway on the Felix Cash-Jason Welborn undercard at Matchroom Boxing’s third Fight Camp card Friday evening.
Mansouri (20-3-2, 6 KOs) and Conway (14-1-1, 3 KOs) do battle for the vacant WBA Intercontinental super-welterweight title when boxing returns to promoter Eddie Hearn’s back garden in the follow-up to the well-received Eggington-Cheeseman and Harper-Jonas cards inside the bubble.
It will be former English champ Mansouri’s first contest on UK soil since his six-round decision victory over Jordan Grannum in July 2017.
The Rotherham fighter then made the decision to relocate to Marbella in Spain and strung together three wins in 2018 before narrow defeats to Jorge Fortea and Stephen Danyo the following year.
Mansouri, 31, is viewed by some as a stepping stone for Northampton’s Conway on Friday, but he remains adamant his professional journey will give him too much for the relatively inexperienced "Too Class" on fight night.
"I think they're overlooking me," said Mansouri. "They think Nav is done, but this fight just brought me back to life.
“I need this win. I’m desperate to get this win. It puts that little bit extra fire into it.
“I'm confident. I’m well-schooled and experienced in this game now. We never stop learning. I think I'll have too much experience for Conway when it comes down to it.
"We shared some rounds a few years ago in Marbella but I can't take anything from that. I can’t remember too much from the spar. It was a long time ago, and he’s come on loads, and I’ve come on loads since then, too.
“I was injured back then as well. He's a really nice kid, but this is business and it's my chance to shine again in the UK.
"We kind of box in similar ways. We'll set traps for each other and it will be an intelligent fight. That’s the way I see it going. It’s all about the timing and speed, and the work rate we’re going to put into it.
“He's tough and slick, it will be a great fight to watch. I haven’t boxed in the UK for a few years, now is the time to make a statement."
The main event of Matchroom’s third Fight Camp card sees Cash (12-0, 8 KOs) put his Commonwealth middleweight strap on the line for the second time against challenger 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 John Docherty (8-0, 6 KOs) faces Anthony Fox (8-12-4, 0 KOs) in super-middleweight action.
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.