Katie Taylor is ready to shut out the noise and deep dig to gain revenge over Chantelle Cameron in Dublin on Saturday night.
Taylor suffered the first defeat of her professional career in her Irish homecoming at the 3Arena in May but gets another shot at the unbeaten English boxer this weekend at the same venue.
While Cameron scored an against-all-odds majority decision victory to retain her WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO light-welterweight belts six months ago, this time around the Northampton fighter has been installed as the favourite.
But Taylor told a press conference on Thursday: “I am very, very grateful for this opportunity again. I have a second chance here and I just can’t wait to fight.
“Whether I am seen as the underdog or favourite, whether I walk to the ring first or second, all that stuff is irrelevant. I am just excited and hungry for the rematch.
“I don’t really take too much notice of what people are saying to be honest. I am very much single-minded and the only people I really listen to are my team, my family and the people that I trust.
“I understand this is a huge fight, I understand this is a must-win fight for me and I can’t wait to step in there now at this stage.
“I know I will perform to the best of my ability on Saturday and it will be a completely different fight to last time. I am just excited to showcase that.”
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Taylor was pulled in every direction during the build-up to the May 20 bout, which marked a historic return to Ireland for the 2012 Olympic champion.
The Bray-born boxer has tried to keep her profile more low-key on this occasion and maintained a steely focus when sitting alongside her rival.
“There is nothing else to say really. I am just ready to fight,” Taylor insisted.
“I hate all the talk, I hate all these press conferences. There is nothing to say. I am just ready to fight at this stage. I am excited and very grateful to have this opportunity.
“I am ready for whatever comes my way. I am ready to dig deep when I have to. That is why I put my body through the trenches week in, week out throughout training camps to be ready for these situations.”
Cameron, sporting gold earrings, also remained respectful behind enemy lines, but warned Taylor would face an even better version of herself this weekend.
She added: “I am not complacent whatsoever. That is why I have put the work in, trained harder than ever and it is the best camp I’ve had because I knew I would be up against a Katie seeking revenge.
“I couldn’t take anything into my stride and think it would be a walk in the park, so I am the fittest I have ever been.”
The 32-year-old, who lost to her Irish foe in the amateur ranks, had originally wanted this rematch to be at 135lbs to enable her the chance to take Taylor’s lightweight titles but was happy to go again at 140lbs and has enjoyed the scrutiny this time.
“I do feel really comfortable,” she admitted. “I am just embracing the week, enjoying it for once. Usually I hate all this, but I am taking it all in my stride.”
Fabian Edwards is a calm and composed character at all times but he confessed he could shed “a little tear” if he wins the Bellator middleweight title this weekend.
Edwards takes on the highly rated and undefeated Johnny Eblen at Bellator 299 at Dublin’s 3Arena on Saturday night, bidding to join older brother Leon, the UFC welterweight titlist, as world champion.
The younger Edwards recognises how far he and his sibling have come, from growing up in squalor in Kingston, Jamaica, to taking up mixed martial arts as a means of escaping gang culture in Birmingham.
He told the PA news agency: “I’m not emotional about it at all but on Saturday when I win that belt, I can’t promise you won’t see a little tear. It’s been a long journey.
“It’s really going to mean the world. I keep saying I’d be over the moon and all the usual stuff but I feel you can’t really put it into words.
“Once I go out there and I achieve that goal, I’d need to get a dictionary and look up a word in there that’s going to describe it but I probably won’t be able to find one.”
Despite a tough upbringing, Edwards has never lacked self-belief, even when his career was derailed following back-to-back defeats against Costello van Steenis and Austin Vanderford.
He rebuilt with three successive wins, beating two bona fide titans of the sport in Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi in the process, to earn his shot against Eblen.
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Edwards said: “I thought I’d never lose. I went undefeated for six years. But I still always kept the belief of knowing I was world class and knowing I could get a world title.
“I feel like my tough upbringing could have contributed to my confidence, going from Jamaica to here and even while I’m over here, going through a lot of stuff that’s going to build you to be solid.
“I’m one of those guys who wants to feel f****d in training, I want to mentally push myself to that point where I think ‘f***ing hell’ and then carry on doing it.”
While Eblen has won all 13 of his contests, Edwards suspects his American rival is too full of himself.
Edwards said: “He believes he’s better than what he is in all areas. That’s what going to play right into my hands. When everything starts falling apart in there, it will be too late for him.”
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This is Edwards’ first title opportunity but he was in Salt Lake City 13 months ago when his brother delivered the head kick around the world to win UFC gold, defeating Kamaru Usman in a shock upset.
He added: “If it’s him fighting I’m more nervous and he’s the same when I’m fighting. When you’ve seen someone work so hard, let alone if they’re your family as well, you just want the best for them.
“But my brother always says the same thing, ‘it’s just a fight. Stop trying to build up the moment bigger than what the moment is.’
“I’ll be fighting with all my heart and all of my might to beat this guy, it doesn’t matter what is on the line, when you have that mindset you allow the moment not to get the better of you.”
:: Tune into Bellator 299: Eblen vs Edwards live from the 3Arena, Dublin, on BBC iPlayer from 9pm on Saturday 23rd September
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