Mikkel Kessler will pay for thinking he can come here and beat me

I finally got the chance to look Mikkel Kessler in the eyes yesterday at the fight week press conference.

It was a great turn-out from the media, with plenty of final interviews done.

I stayed for a good few hours doing them all — the press seem to be engrossed in this fight and it’s important to do the media work.

Sometimes it’s the same question over and over again but, with this fight, there’s just so much talk that people have become really excited and that’s great.

After being at close quarters with Mikkel, the aggression and adrenaline flowed.

I’m really ready to get in there and beat this guy now.

I got hyped up in the press conference and the interviews because it’s fight time.

I’ve been training for 12 weeks, I’ve been watching my food for three months and I’ve hardly seen my family — and that’s all because of Mikkel Kessler.

So when I saw him for the first time yesterday and just three days before we lock horns in the most important fight of our lives, I told people that I was willing to do whatever it takes to get the win.

The words are strong but it’s the accumulation of everything a world-class fighter goes through as he prepares to come to the boil.