Kell Brook is adamant the delay to his fight against Amir Khan has given him time to make the weight perfect ahead of their bout at the Manchester Arena this Saturday.
After many years of animosity between the pair, Brook and Khan will finally meet in an all-British grudge match, even if it is not at the stages of their careers that fans would have hoped.
The fight is taking place at a catch-weight of 149lbs, with Brook throughout his career having real struggles to make weight ahead of some of his biggest fights.
But the Sheffield fighter is in confident mood this time, insisting that his focus in camp has been on tactics rather than cutting weight.
“He has made a big mistake messing me about for the past seven months,” Brook told Sky Sports.
“This fight should have happened before Christmas, I should have spent Christmas with my family. Unfortunately for him I have been training for those seven months.
“It is well known that normally I have eight weeks to get ready for a fight and it is usually just about making the weight. But for this fight I have been at the weight for a long time and concentrating on what we need to do.
“I am in fantastic shape, and he will know as soon as that first bell rings that I am coming for business.”
Brook and Khan went head-to-head at an ill-tempered press conference in November, when they had to be quickly pulled apart by security.
They will face off again after the weigh-in on Friday, and Khan believes it will not be him that loses his head.
“Kell is already wound up. I am going to keep calm and chilled but anything can happen in boxing,” Khan said.
“We don’t like each other. We have not liked each other for 10 years. This could pop off before the fight. When we did the face-off last time it didn’t go too well and luckily the security jumped in.
“Kell looks in great shape, fit and ready. This is the biggest fight of his career so he is going to be in the best shape he has ever been in.
“He has already given his game plan away and said that he is looking for a knockout.
“We are going to be too smart for him, too slick for him, and I really believe that once I land my shots I will really hurt him and I see him not making it.”
