By Ryan Burton

Undefeated junior welterweight prospect Karim "Hard Hitta" Mayfield is ready for his HBO televised show down against Mauricio Herrera. The fight takes place on October 27th at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY.

Mayfield appeared on a recent edition of BoxingScene's official audio show, The Boxing Lab and told us that he is thrilled to be fighting on HBO. 

"It is a dream come true. Just from the beginning when I started I new that fighting on HBO was the ideal thing. I had some slow spots in my career but now it's paying off," explained Mayfield.

The Northern California resident is trained by 2011 Trainer of the Year Virgil Hunter.  Mayfield said that Hunter has worked on getting him to use all facets of his game instead of just relying on his power.

"I have three fights with Virgil Hunter now but what a lot of people don't know is that I was with him in the amateurs. He was busy with Dre (Andre Ward) but now we are back together. Its a good thing.

"He has talk me a lot.  For instance he has told me when to use my power. He has told me you have power you don't always have to go all out. That I don't have to go full blast on all of my punches.  I've worked on my technical skills and am a better boxer," Mayfield stated.

While Hunter has molded Mayfield into more of a boxer, he hasn't tried to take away his fighter's best attribute.

"I am definitely more of a boxer but that is one thing with Virgil. He doesn't try to make me into just a boxer because one of my best abilities is my power. He is refining my skills but my power is always there."

Mayfield noted that his opponent doesn't always use the same style and pointed to three of Herrera's recent fights. He said that they have worked on being ready for any style that Herrera presents.

"Getting ready for this fight we had to prepare for the fact that he isn't a come forward fighter. He boxed that whole fight versus (Ruslan) Provodnikov. Then with Mike Dallas he came forward. He came forward and also boxed versus Alvarado. In this camp we had to make sure we didn't fall into that 'he's just a straight forward guy' trap," Mayfield revealed.

You can listen to the interview in its entirety by clicking here: http://tobtr.com/s/3770629

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com Follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter and tune in to The Boxing Lab, BoxingScene's official audio on Tuesdays. The show is hosted by Ernie Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan Burton