WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol is not concerned with the oddsmakers billing him as the underdog in the upcoming defense against Mexican superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.
The fight takes place on May 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The contest has been a very long journey for Bivol.
"I always wanted to learn how to fight and protect myself. I watched many movies with Jackie Chan when I was a kid, and I always wanted to learn to fight like him. My father first took me to a training facility to do karate, but there were not many competitions there. Then my father took me to a boxing gym where I fell in love with boxing," Bivol told The Sun.
"Initially my ultimate dream was to go to the Olympics and to win a gold medal, but my career laid out in a different direction. I became a professional boxer before going to the Olympics and always wanted to achieve and go as far up as I can in the pro ranks. It is important for me to just know that I did everything I can in the sport, and gave it all to achieve the highest ranks."
Canelo, a four division world champion and unbeaten since 2013, is backed to win the contest - after becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion in his last contest, with a knockout win over Caleb Plant.
"First of all, Canelo has had close fights and has been beaten before. Every boxer has certain qualities and makes mistakes. My goal is to capitalize on those mistakes in the fight. I hope that everybody will tune it to watch the fight," Bivol said.
"I might not be the strongest or the quickest, but I have a full package of boxing qualities that I bring into this fight. My package is what makes me who I am and this package of skills is what I will come into the fight with on May 7th. It is very important to be very focused and concentrated when you are fighting somebody of the top caliber."