By Mark Vester

UK middleweight Gary Lockett says that he has no fear of anything that WBC/WBO champion Kelly Pavlik possesses. Lockett will travel across the ocean for a crack at Pavlik's titles on June 7 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Lockett was scheduled to fight a tuneup bout, but was asked to withdraw in order to ensure his health. Previous opponent, John Duddy, was forced to withdraw after suffering a bad cut during a tuneup on the Feb. 23 undercard to Klitschko-Ibragimov.

"I've got 12 weeks to prepare for the fight," Lockett told Frank Warren's official website. "I've been in the gym already so I'll be in great shape come June 7 and I'm not going over there to make up the numbers, I'm going over there to win. I would have preferred another warm-up fight. Given Pavlik was supposed to be fighting John Duddy and Duddy got in a warm-up fight that I thought he lost, the Americans wanted to avoid a similar situation.

Lockett knows that most boxing experts view the fight as a mismatch, but he's not discouraged. He is trained Ezno Calzaghe, father/trainer of champion Joe. The elder Calzaghe has thrown him in the ring to spar with Joe and cruiserweight Enzo Maccarainelli on several occasions.

"I don't like to think of myself in the same way as Michael Watson, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank. I never thought I'd emulate them but I'm now boxing for the WBC/WBO world titles," Lockett said. "Some may see this as a mismatch but I don’t see it like that. Yes, he has boxed by far better people than I have but not in terms of natural talent. He's more of a hard, rugged guy, whereas I’m a heavy-hitting steady boxer puncher. I train with Enzo Maccarinelli who hits harder than Pavlik and Joe Calzaghe who would wipe the floor with him so I'll have nothing to fear on the night."

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