Gennady Golovkin expects Daniel Jacobs to be the toughest opponent of his career on Saturday and the middleweight king said the prospect of breaking Bernard Hopkins' defence record will not be on his mind at Madison Square Garden.
Golovkin knocked Kell Brook out last September to extend his unbeaten record to 36 fights, but the WBA, WBC, IBO and IBF champion said Jacobs, who has one loss in 33 bouts, will be a very different proposition.
The 34-year-old Kazakh is three short of matching Hopkins' 20 middleweight defences, but the man known as 'GGG' is only interested in putting on another show in New York rather than having an eye on history.
He told Omnisport: "I know my job - right now, I'm very excited. One hundred percent, he's the toughest, biggest opponent for me in my career.
"Right now we have had a lot of time to prepare for a good performance. We're ready for a decision and for a very short fight - I think this is an amazing fight for us.
"With Kell it was a different situation. I believe this is a much better fight."
Asked about Hopkins' record, he replied: "For me it's more important to win the fight, not beat Bernard Hopkins' record. I respect Bernard, he's an idol. He's a great champion.
"For me, it's more important [to focus on] my career, my rating. Maybe it's more important for history, not for me."
As reported earlier, Jacobs can no longer win Golovkin's IBF middleweight title after skipping a weight check on the morning of the bout. The three remaining titles will be at stake.
The IBF title will still be on the line for the Kazakh fighter, but Jacobs will not be eligible to claim it even if he gets the better of his unbeaten opponent.
"Golovkin is defending his IBF title, however Jacobs cannot acquire the title with a victory because he did not participate in the required IBF same-day weigh-in," said IBF championships chairman Lindsey Tucker in a statement.
Speculation over Jacobs' reasoning for missing the weigh-in range from accusations of gamesmanship to claims the decision was taken to ease pressure on the day of the fight.
