Shannon Courtenay is ready to move from prospect to contender as she meets her biggest test to date in Rachel Ball at Matchroom’s third Fight Camp on Friday.
Courtenay (5-0, 2 KOs) enjoyed a flawless rookie year in the pro ranks, and the 27-year-old views three-time world kickboxing champion Ball (5-1, 0 KOs) as the next logical step as she hopes to go up the levels.
"This is going to be a fight where you can actually see what I’m about," said Courtenay.
"Some people think that she might win, so I feel like I’m going to prove a lot of people wrong and I’m looking forward to making a statement.
“I perform well under pressure. When you put me in sparring with better girls, I perform better. You’ll see that on fight night.
"I'm going to shock a lot of people. Nothing worth having comes easy, and I’ve worked so hard. I think every fight was a learning curve.
“Every fighter that I’ve come across was very different. I’ve learnt with every fight. It has been a bit of an apprenticeship for me.
“Now is the right time for me to step up, have a tough fight and show people what I’m all about. I’m working even harder to prove that I deserve to be here.
“Some people might say ‘she never went to the Olympics’ or question why I've been given such a big platform by Matchroom and Sky Sports, but on August 14th I’ll show why I’m on this platform by making a big statement."
Ball has wondered aloud during fight week how “untested” Courtenay will be able to handle her “monstrous” height, but "The Baby Faced Assassin" insists she packs a lot of power.
"This was the first fight that was offered to me for Fight Camp, and there was no hesitation in taking it from me,” explained Courtenay.
“I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know a great lot about Rachel. I know that from the day I had my debut, she was Tweeting about me non-stop. I’ve been living in her head rent-free for at least a year now, so that’s fine by me.
"I had a little watch of her afterwards. She’s tall, but there’s nothing that worries me about her. I’m confident going into this fight. I think I’ll be too strong.
“She's around a foot taller than me. She might think someone this small might not be able to hurt her. Let me assure you, I carry power and she will feel it, 100 per cent.
"I think people are intrigued because they’ve not seen enough of me yet. There’s this big following and social media presence.
“Do I deserve it because I haven’t boxed anyone of a big name yet or big status? There’s people that will question if I deserve this platform or deserve this hype. On August 14th I’ll prove that I do."
In the main event of Matchroom Fight Camp 3, Felix Cash (12-0, 8 KOs) puts his Commonwealth middleweight championship on the line for the second time against former world title challenger Jason Welborn (24-8, 7 KOs).
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.