By Keith Idec

Adrien Broner has heard Mikey Garcia and many others say Garcia is a better boxer than him since their fight was announced last month.

The former four-division champion dismissed that contention Thursday during a conference call to discuss their July 29 bout. Broner believes his boxing ability will be one of his advantages in their 12-round, 140-pound fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (Showtime).

“Man, that’s a damn lie,” Broner said. “Ain’t no way in hell that he could be a better boxer than me. Who he beat? Come on, man.”

The 29-year-old Garcia has won world titles in three weight classes, but Broner has fought a slightly higher level of opposition than Garcia since he turned pro nine years ago. The best two opponents of Broner’s career – former champions Marcos Maidana and Shawn Porter – both beat Broner by unanimous decision in 12-round fights.

The Cincinnati native is more than a 2-1 underdog against Garcia, but he is certain he’ll become the first fighter to defeat the unbeaten WBC lightweight champion.

“Listen man, I can’t tell the future, but I know I’m gonna be victorious,” Broner said. “Honestly, I’m just ready to let the world see. It’s not a mystery what I do at 140 pounds and down. And I’m gonna be in tip-top shape. And I hope he’ll be in tip-top shape. I’m ready to let my hands do all the talking July 29th.”

Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs), of Oxnard, California, has repeatedly stated that he is a better boxer than Broner (33-2, 24 KOs, 1 NC) and possesses a higher ring IQ than him.

“I’m gonna show it on Saturday the 29th,” Garcia said during the conference call. “I’m gonna show my skills. I’m gonna show what I’m capable of doing. Like I said before, I haven’t had a challenger really push me to the next level and I think Adrien Broner will do that, and I’ll be able to show everybody another side of myself that you still haven’t seen.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.