Sam Eggington says Ted Cheeseman has been on the verbal front foot ahead of their Matchroom Boxing Fight Camp 1 main event, but that his opponent will be on the back foot when the bell rings.
Eggington (28-6, 17 KOs) defends the IBF International light-middleweight title against Cheeseman (15-2-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday as Matchroom's HQ in Brentwood plays host to Eddie Hearn's return from several months without live boxing events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a frank sitdown interview with Matchroom, the 26-year-old seemed happy to let his challenger go on the verbal offensive in the run-up to their clash.
"It’s very rare that I’ve been the favourite, if I’m honest," Eggington explained.
"People are talking about it like Ted’s reborn. I don’t think he’s a big, strong super-welter. He’s going to box and move for as long as he can, but when he has to get into it, that’s when it’s all going to go wrong.
"He’s talking like he’s too big and too strong, and there’ll be a big stoppage coming. If he tries that, I think it’ll be meat and drink. I’ll be all over that.
"He’s a good boxer. You only have to look back at his amateur career to see that. But he’s talking himself into a false sense of security."
The Birmingham boxer brings a four-fight win streak to Fight Camp 1 but is no stranger to defeat. Nonetheless, Eggington insists that has made him a better fighter overall.
He continued: "My career as a whole shows you that losing, while it’s never great, it’s not the end of the world.
"You need to tell a lot of people that, because there are still a lot of kids who pack it in when they lose their first big fight. And they shouldn’t, really.
"If you look at my career alone, I’ve lost fights I maybe shouldn’t have, but I came back better. If you don’t take the opportunities while they’re there, you’ll never know.
"No one can ever question my drive because it’s been there from the start. My drive is my kids and my missus. And that’s not gonna change, that never changes.
"My drive cannot just fade. It’s not like I can get hit a couple of times in the head and then think it’s not worth it. I wanna win, so my family are comfortable."
Matchroom Boxing's Fight Camp 1, headlined by Eggington vs Cheeseman, airs live on DAZN in the U.S. and Sky Sports in the UK on Aug. 1.