Carl Frampton admits that he will need a "perfect" performance if he is to beat Jamel Herring in their WBO world super-featherweight title fight in Dubai.
The Northern Irishman aims to become his country's first three-weight world champion at Caesars Palace on Saturday.
Both fighters have two defeats on their records. Of Frampton's 28 wins, 16 have been by knockout. Herring has won 22 of his 24 bouts, 10 by knockout.
“For me to win this fight, I will need to be perfect,” the 34-year-old said on Thursday. “If I carry out my game plan I believe I will win this fight. Everything is aligning.
“I will expect the best Jamel Herring I have ever seen. His last performance [against Jonathan Oquendo who was disqualified for a bead-butt] was criticised. My own performance in my last fight [when he knocked out Darren Traynor] wasn't brilliant.
“I am prepared to be better. Hopefully Jamel is as well. We will see what happens. I expect a big performance from Jamel and I prepared for that.”
Frampton also believes he will reap the rewards of arriving in the UAE early, having settled into Dubai life two weeks ahead of his fight.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said of the meeting with the 35-year-old American. “It seems like we have been talking of a fight for well over a year now.
“I feel it will definitely be beneficial for me to get out here early. I finished preparation here and yeah I think it was beneficial to get used to my surroundings and the heat and everything else.
“I have finished off what has been a very, very good camp. We have had a lot of good things about the camp and how happy I am personally with the way that things have gone and going in the gym.
"The camp has been top notch. I am where I need to be right now and I can't wait.”
And the prospect of sealing his place in boxing history is another driving force for Frampton. “I am very proud of what I have done in my career so far and to win would mean the world for me," he said.
“It is a chance to go down as the only ever three-weight world champion in the whole island of Ireland, and only the four in Britain. It will put me in an elite bunch of fighters across the world, and it would make me very proud to do it.
“Personally it would mean that world really, and not just me but the people that have helped me on my journey ever since I was a kid, you know seven-year-old kid and then as an amateur.
“I have loads of people that I have to thank and that have helped me in some way along the way. I have my mum and dad here, Cooper McClure who was my old coach as an amateur.”
Frampton’s coach Jamie Moore also believes the preparations have gone as per the plan. “Knowing what Carl can do and where he can perform, he’s ahead of schedule which is a great position to be in,” he said.
“I couldn't have asked for anything to go better. He is in position to pull off history and achieve something no other Irish fighter has done.”
Herring, meanwhile, has already dismissed Frampton’s comments about arriving early in the Middle East as a failed attempt to gain “some kind of edge”.
But the former US Marine did admit that we was expecting an opponent at the top of his game.
“We aren't looking at weaknesses,” he said. “We are prepared for the best version of Carl Frampton cos we know what's on the line for him.
“We don't look for poor performances. We look to take his strengths away from him as the fight progresses.
“I am a fan of Carl. I respect what he has done in his career. Two divisional world champion and fighter of the year in 2016.
“He is a father, a husband, and we share that common mutual respect. We just want to do our jobs and get home to our families. Maybe I will get to Belfast some time. But for now, it is just business and getting that win.”
