By Jake Donovan

There was never a hint of animosity between Anthony Dirrell and Badou Jack in the past, not even from the announcement of their head-on collision which comes this Friday at UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois, to air on Spike TV.

Somewhere along the way, things have turned south. Dirrell (27-0-1, 22KOs) has strolled into town seemingly with a chip on his shoulder heading into the first defense of his super middleweight title. Jack, meanwhile, has done his part to remain civil, quiet and confident as he braces for his first title shot.

Tension from Wednesday’s press conference carried over into the pre-fight weigh-in on Thursday. Both fighters easily made weight and were summoned for the obligatory stare down on stage. Such moments are merely little more than a photo-op for the press and fans posing as media members, but Dirrell and his crew clearly had designs on livening up the party.

Jack had to endure heckling from Dirrell’s team from the moment he stepped on the scale, with his entourage literally barking at him, though with very little bite for the most part.

“It sounded like a bunch of poodles yipping if you ask me,” quipped Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Jack’s trainer and a former light heavyweight champion and certified badass back in his day. “A bunch of French poodles, at that.”

Given the tension left over from the final pre-fight press conference, Jack knew to expect more nonsense on Thursday. True to form, Dirrell continued on with his attempted mind games, getting in Jack’s face while his team encouraged extracurricular activity. The situation was immediately defused, though lasting long enough to reveal to Jack what he believes he’s up against on fight night.

“Like we saw (Wednesday) at the press conference, he's nervous. He knows he's in a real fight,” insists Jack (18-1-1, 12KOs). “He's the champ and he's acting like he's some kind of challenger, barking and screaming. It's proof of insecurity. I'm relaxed - I'm the one supposed to be like that. Confidence is silence, loudness is insecurity.”

Dirrell enters on the heels of the biggest win of his career, a title-lifting 12-round victory over Sakio Bika in their rematch last August. The feat made the boxer just the second in history to overcome cancer to win a major title, coming one week after the feat was accomplished by Daniel Jacobs, who is also on the show as he defends his secondary middleweight title versus Caleb Truax.

Jack recognizes that between their resumes, Dirrell boasts the biggest win, but also believes the rest of his career hasn’t properly prepared the Michigan-bred boxer for what’s to come on Friday.

“He knows he’s in his toughest fight,” believes Jack, Sweden-born but now living in and fighting out of Las Vegas under the careful watch of promoter and mentor – and also the best fighter in the world - Floyd Mayweather. “Dirrell’s been a pro for 10 years. He's never fought anyone but Bika. And Bika - he's not super old but he's been in a lot of wars. He's a tough veteran but he doesn't have 10%of the talent I possess.

“He's trying to get into my head. He's trying to sell the fight. That's on him. I wish him nothing but the best. I hope the cancer stays gone forever. I'm glad he's conquered that. But this is a fight, I'm trying to take him out and I’ll show him in the ring.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox