Michael Conlan believes that the pressure of a first ever title defence in front of his home crowd will prove to be too much for Leigh Wood to deal with.
Wood and Conlan face off for the WBA featherweight title in Wood's home town of Nottingham on 12 March.
Conlan - who has been managed by MTK Global, a sports management company linked to Daniel Kinahan - puts his unbeaten record on the line, having yet to taste defeat in his 16 professional fights.
Three of those fights have been in Conlan’s native Belfast and he believes that the added pressure of fighting in his home city is something that will weight heavily on Wood.
"I know what exactly what it’s like to fight under that pressure of fighting at home," he said "I’ve fought at home three times and every show has been massive. There’s so much expectation.
"This guy doesn’t understand that, you can see his demeanour has changed. He doesn’t understand the pressure of fighting in your home city.
"He had the opportunity of fighting in Madison Squared Garden and he could have come to Belfast if he wanted to but no, he wants to fight in Nottingham before he retires.
"He knows I can beat him, he knows. He will not beat me, it’s as simple as that. I really respect him as a person and a fighter but **** all that until the fight’s over."
This will be Conlan’s first fight since beating TJ Doheny in Belfast last August and while a six month gap between fights is longer than he expected, Conlan insist he is more than ready for Wood.
"I could fight now, that’s the thing, I’m ready to go right now," he said. "Lee is not ready and he doesn’t need to be until the fight night.
"But I’ve stayed professional, I’ve been in training since September when I thought I was fighting in December so I didn’t stop training. I stayed in shape, I stayed fit and I could fight in the morning if I needed to.
"March 12th, you’ll hear 'and the new…’ and that’s all I want to say."
While Wood agrees that he is under added pressure because of the fight venue, he insists he’s going to come out on top and questioned the calibre of opponent Conlan has faced up this point.
"I don’t think Mick has ever been in a 50-50 fight, this is new to him but I’ve come through those challenges," the defending champion said.
"I’ve been in fights where I’ve not been the favourite but I’ve come out the other side.
"He is right, there is going to be a lot of pressure, but I thrive on pressure."
Meanwhile fight promoted Eddie Hearn is confident the WBA featherweight super champion belt will be up for grabs on 12 March along with the ‘regular’ world title.
Leo Santa Cruz hold the super champion belt at the moment but has not staged a title defence in over two years and Hearn believes that the belt will be vacated and that Wood and Conlan will fight for it.
When asked whether the Nottingham bout will be upgraded, he replied "I'm very confident. It should be."
"Leo Santa Cruz hasn't boxed in the weight class for years and he still sits at super champion. I'm very confident that this fight will be for the super championship"
