British champion Junior Witter told Sky Sports he still has what it takes to win at the highest level.
Junior Witter faces a fresh challenge when he defends his British welterweight title against Frankie Gavin at York Hall on Thursday week.
In a battle of old versus new, the 38-year-old will step between the ropes for the 49th time in his career against former crack amateur Gavin, who is 13-0 since joining the paid ranks.
Witter has seen it all, taking a world title fight against then-unbeaten Zab Judah at short notice before winning British, Commonwealth, European gongs and finally the WBC title at light-welterweight.
It's fair to say the Bradford switch-hitter has fought the very best - Vivian Harris, Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander all figure on an impressive resume.
And the veteran still believes he has the goods to deliver at the highest level.
"I want to be world champion, I'm not in the game to make up the numbers - I'm there to be the best," he told Sky Sports. "That's where the ambitions lie.
"Age is not relevant for me. It depends how much hammer you take and how you live your lifestyle. I feel I've led a good lifestyle, I don't stay out the gym that long, I take the weight off properly.
"Mentally and physically I'm in a very good place at the minute."
Preparation
As a youngster, Witter trained alongside the likes of Prince Naseem Hamed and Johnny Nelson at the famous Wincobank gym in Sheffield - now his job is to keep pace with the likes of Kell Brook and Kid Galahad.
Training with Brook in the build-up to
The Special One's eliminator with Hector Saldivia last weekend has helped Witter prepare for the Gavin fight, although unlike Brook he has not had to make drastic changes to his regime.
"My diet's always been good, I've never had a problem making weight," he added. "We incorporated some of the stuff that has been brought in for Kell, but everything's flying.
"Training-wise we've tweaked some stuff and done everything we've needed to do. The finer points have always been important with me, with my style. My elusiveness, the way I box, the finer points have always been awkward and hard to nail down.
"But I've done it, I'm still doing it. I'm training with 18-year-olds, 22-year-olds, there's no rest for me, I don't get any easy time.
"Everything we do, there's always someone that's better at it than you, and you've got to work hard to stay the same.
"I'm looking at what I'm doing now and what I've been doing since 2009, and I've not been performing at a level I'm happy with. I'm happy again now, everything is going well."
Witter had been written off by many after failing to lift the Prizefighter trophy last year but he came back to defeat fellow veteran Colin Lynes for the second time in his career in May, a decade after he first won the Lonsdale Belt.
Decision
But he revealed that victory came as no surprise to Witter and those around him.
"The biggest surprise was the amount of people writing me off," he said. "I knew what I could do. I knew I had a bad performance in Canada (against Victor Puiu), even though I should have got the decision being away from home.
"But I knew what I was still capable of so I came back, got beat in Prizefighter and couldn't believe the final result to be honest.
"But you pick yourself, dust yourself down and get back to what you do best. I am such a better fighter than I was, than I have been for the last couple of years."
Turning to the task ahead, Witter is confident he will be able to use all his experience to out-smart 27-year-old Gavin, whose personal problems have stunted his development after turning pro following the Beijing Olympics debacle that saw him miss out due to weight problems.
"I've had bigger, tougher, faster and sharper opponents," Witter said. "He's done alright. His best win was beating a football manager (Curtis Woodhouse). He doesn't worry me. The only thing I'm worried about is him not turning up again like the last time he was supposed to box me.
"I'm not under-estimating him, he does want to win, but I've got to show him what skills and speed is all about.
"I've done the bit where I've thought about the next fight, I've made the silly mistakes, I've looked past other fighters before.
"I'm good, I'm sharp and I know when I land my punches he's going to go down."
