Tim Tszyu has derided Bakhram Murtazaliev as a "step-aside" pretender while outlining his plans to prove himself the divisional king of global super-welterweight boxing.
Speaking publicly for the first time since his world title fight with Murtazaliev in Orlando was given the green light after Hurricane Milton swept through Florida, Tszyu was adamant he would strip the undefeated Russian of his IBF belt on Sunday.
"I'm just here to show that I'm levels above, quite simple," Tszyu said, dismissing Murtazaliev's claim that the son of Hall of Famer Kostya was "the most hyped name in boxing".
"I've listened to that since the start of my career. (It's) not new.
"They keep saying that. A couple (of rivals) have started respecting but then, then you get another one and again - hype, blah, blah, blah, more, more bullshit.
"It is what it is, I guess. What, what can I do?"
Murtazaliev (22-0, 16KOs) also accused Tszyu (24-1, 17KOs) of talking too much, but the Sydney slayer swatted that sledge away with another of his own taunts.
Well aware the California-based, Grozny-born 31-year-old had been dodged by former undisputed champion Jermell Charlo three times while building his unbeaten career over more than a decade, Tszyu branded Murtazaliev as "not promotable".
"Me talking? I do interviews, but that's what selling a fight does, and talking about the fight," Tszyu said.
"Unlike some guys that aren't promotable at all, it's not my fault he is one of those guys.
"He's sort of had to go wherever he's been told - he's taken step-aside money a lot of times.
"He's a step-aside fighter clearly. I'm here to take the biggest challenges, the hardest fights, the biggest fights and create a legacy and make a shit ton of money.
"That's what I'm here for.
"Him on the other side, he's step-aside money, this and that and whatever, man. We're in two different worlds."
Tszyu's scathing assessment of the reigning IBF champion received the nod of approval from training great Johnny Lewis, who questioned the Russian's unbeaten credentials while tipping his Australian challenger to win comfortably.
"They (boxers) can run up records these days and they don't fight the best," Lewis told AAP on Tuesday.
"Too many of them that are undefeated, they don't fight.
"I've got no doubt that Tim will work him out. I think he can stop him."
Tszyu is fighting himself for the first time since suffering the first loss of his career, a bloodied defeat at the hands and elbow of towering American Sebastian Fundora.
That loss will forever be marked with an asterisk, as evident by the IBF's decision's to grant Tszyu a shot at redemption, after he sustained a gruesome, accidental head cut in the second round in Las Vegas in March.
Lewis is unconcerned about Tszyu's lengthy lay-off.
"He lives cleanly and he's ready for it," said Lewis, who sat in Kostya's corner as Tszyu's legendary father became a unified world champion.
Should Tszyu prevail at Caribe Royal Orlando and join Kostya as a multiple world champion, the 29-year-old will be firmly back on track to secure a rematch with Fundora or a mega-money blockbuster with pound-for-pound champ Terence Crawford.
