George Groves has predicted a comfortable night when he takes on Callum Smith in the World Boxing Super Series final on Sept. 28.
The WBA super middleweight champion beat Jamie Cox and Chris Eubank Jr to reach the final of the eight-man elimination tournament and will defend his title against the undefeated Smith (24-0, 17 KOs) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
"In terms of in the tournament, I think it'll be the toughest test yet," Groves said, "but it's nowhere near a step too far. I feel I'm in the form of my life and I'm boxing better than ever, I don't see Callum posing a problem on fight night.
"Obviously we've got to be on our A-game. We know how to beat him and like always it's just another fight. If I go out and perform like I know I can and stick to the game plan it'll be another comfortable win."
Smith, 28, negotiated Sweden's Erik Skoglund and Holland's Nieky Holzken to reach the final and secure the first title shot of his career. The Liverpool fighter dismissed Groves' comments and said he will rise to the occasion.
"That's his opinion," Smith said. "I'm in a good place, feeling good and training's going really well. It's been a long time coming but I'm finally sitting here in the press conference for my world title fight, which I feel I've been ready for for quite a while now.
"It's a fight I've always liked and it's a fight I've always been confident of winning. I've finally got my chance now to go out and prove that I can become a world champion, which I feel I'm more than good enough to do."
Smith knows he'll have to step up to another level if he is to compete with Groves, let along beat him, but said that fighters always raise their game when world title fights come along.
"George knows that himself," Smith said. "His career-best performance came in his first world title fight. I'm expecting the toughest fight of my career and I'm training for that. I've always felt that I've always rose to the occasion and this fight is no different."
The date of the final was delayed from June to give Groves time to recover from surgery after dislocating his shoulder in the last round of the win over Eubank Jr in February. Groves admitted that there were times during rehab where he didn't know if he'd ever recover from the injury, but now believes his shoulder is better than ever.
"It's bulletproof," Groves said. "In terms of it popping out again it should never happen. It's tougher than ever, it's reinforced. I'm fit, I'm healthy, I've put the work in, I'm looking forward to fighting, I'm glad the date is coming soon and we're only weeks away."
There was much surprise when Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was announced as the location of the fight. A heavily-anticipated bout between two British boxers would have sold out major venues across the county but now, many British fans will be missing out.
"We signed a contract, we have no say over where the locations of the fights will be," Groves said. "You'd assume that obviously two Brits would fight in the U.K., that would be the most logical place, but it's not, we're going to Saudi Arabia."
"It's a level playing field," Smith added. "We're both having to travel and we're both being taken out of our comfort zones. It's all about the opponent in the corner for me, regardless of the venue. The tournament has been fantastic for me and it's still a fight where I've got to win and got to do a job, regardless of where it is."