Tim Tszyu plans on slow cooking big-talking Kiwi Bowyn Morgan on Wednesday night to savour what would be the most pivotal victory of his burgeoning boxing career.
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While Tszyu's TKO of Jeff Horn in August was widely seen as the 26-year-old's public coming of age, seeing off Morgan in their Australasian super welterweight fight at Bankwest Stadium would be an even more significant and watershed win.
With the WBO on Monday upgrading the fight to world title eliminator status, Tszyu is a step away from his lifelong goal of emulating his father Kostya and becoming a world champion.
He's potentially one punch away.
Not that he's eyeing a knockout.
"I like the enjoyment of taking someone to the deeper rounds, just for the fact that you're taking their soul with them," Tszyu said after Tuesday's weigh-in at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.
"You're taking everything away from them - their confidence, everything they believed and thought they were going to do, you slowly take it.
"With knockouts, it's different. I don't know, we'll see how I feel like on the night."
With an unblemished 16-0 record, Tszyu is a warm favourite despite Morgan, 21-1, claiming the Australian won't last the full 10 rounds.
"You know the saying, Roy Jones can't be touched? That's what I expect," Tszyu said when asked how their stoush would play out.
In somewhat of an omen, Tszyu will be returning for the first time to the stadium where his father's TKO of Colombian Hugo Pineda in 1996 - and, like that January night almost 25 years ago to the day, rain is forecast.
Tszyu was only one year old then. Now he will have some 10,000 fans behind him in the Parramatta stadium stands.
"I've got a whole nation behind me - I've got two nations behind me. I've got family, I've got everything, I've got an army that I'm here to represent."
Not that he will see the big crowd.
"I get into the zone where I switch off," he said.
"I'm a nice person outside the ring. But once I get in the ring, I'm a different person.
"Even when I was in the weigh-in, I forgot there were cameras, forgot there were people around.
"It's just me and my opponent. I get to look deep into his soul.
"That's what I do, knowing I'm going to take it."
Australian Associated Press
