The bad blood again simmered between Australian hope Brock Jarvis and veteran former champion Keith Thurman ahead of their fight on Wednesday at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. 

They went head-to-head at their final press conference today at the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park, and the 36-year-old veteran Thurman said: “I could be 46 years old; I still whoop his ass, I could be 56 years old, I still whoop his ass at the end of the day. I came here to get back into the beautiful sport of boxing that I've loved that I've dedicated my whole life to since I was seven years old.

“He moves like a cardboard box on wheels; a fucking Tetris board in action. He’s square as fuck. The boy’s got no head movement. I’m a two-time world champion. 

“I’ve seen this time and time and time again; I’m not trying to underestimate him. I’m trying to analyze the opponent that they happen to put in front of me. It’s not my fault that he's square, that he just comes in and has no head movement.

“This fight for me is my comeback fight to re-establish myself in the beautiful sport of boxing, to let the fight fans see who is this old, 36-year-old, Thurman. What can he do? We know what he's done, what can he do?

“The world will see what Thurman brings to the table, and from there, you know, I'll just be waiting for the next contract.

“If it happens to have Tim Tszyu’s name on the other side, I'll be happy to sign it. I've already signed a contract against Tim Tszyu once. It was an unfortunate event. We didn't get to make that, maybe this is the year.”

Predictably, Jarvis labelled Thurman “an old man” and said he was no longer the same fighter he had been in his prime.

“He's coming off some big injuries and he's gonna really struggle, get back in there,” said the Australian. “So I'm gonna hit him and I am gonna hurt him and it's gonna be interesting to see how he reacts to it.

“I'm certainly ready, I was looking at him the other day. He doesn't look ready to me at all… So I'm bringing the heat. I'm the one that's going to bring the heat, I'm coming in for the knockout.

“I'm not going to miss, I'm going to hit him and I'm going to hurt him. So it's going to be interesting, I don't know how he's going to react at his age anymore.”

Florida’s Thurman, 30-1 (22 KOs), last boxed almost three years ago when he defeated current WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios. His only career loss is to Manny Pacquiao.

Thurman has spent several weeks in Australia building the fight.

Jarvis has also lost just once, when he was blitzed in a round by countryman Liam Paro. He has returned with two victories at a lower level since and, now 27, he is 22-1 (20 KOs).

No Limit promoter George Rose said Australian fight fans are adamant the fight finishes early, but were divided as to who wins.

He cautioned that Thurman was a future Hall of Famer but added: “Brock Jarvis is an absolute finisher and he’s got a great knockout record and he’s looking to increase that on Wednesday night.”