Dennis McCann has vowed to produce a career-best performance against Ionut Baluta at London’s York Hall on Friday.
McCann, 22, was in a playful mood at a news conference on Wednesday, handing Baluta a Dennis the Menace cut-out and even giving a shout-out to the Lionesses’ World Cup semi-final win.
The English fighter aims to deliver his third stoppage win in a row.
“You’ve going to see the best of Dennis McCann, the best you’ve ever seen,” McCann said.
Victory would see ‘The Menace’ extend his impressive undefeated record to 15 fights.
“If it’s not a KO it’s going to be a demolition job,” he added.
Romania’s Baluta is the toughest test in McCann’s career to date and the super-bantamweight rivals know each other well, having shared many rounds of sparring together.
Baluta has 16 wins and four losses in his career, but is coming off a win in his last bout against previously undefeated Andrew Cain.
McCann labelled his 29-year-old opponent a “grandad” compared to him, while Baluta said their spars would have no bearing on the result.
The winner will walk away with the WBO’s Inter-Continental belt.
“Me and Baluta have done probably about a hundred rounds sparring, so he knows what I’m about. Deep down, he knows,” McCann said.
“I’ve been boxing since I’m four years of age. I left school at ten years old just to be a boxer.
“I’ve put all my eggs in one basket. There isn’t a man in this room who trains as hard as me.”
McCann ended the news conference by congratulating the England women’s team who reached their first World Cup final as the media event was going on.
“Big shout out to the Lionesses, it’s coming home,” McCann said.
There was then a friendly face-off between the fighters, with Baluta even posing with the Dennis the Menace cut-out.
