Jon Thaxton says he will produce "something very special" when he faces European champ Yuri Romanov.
Thaxton ready for the fight of his life against Romanov
Jon Thaxton is promising to produce the fight of his life when he takes on Yuri Romanov.
The Norwich man says he has "something very special" in store when he steps in against the European lightweight champion on April 4, live on
Sky Sports.
It is the biggest fight of his 16-year professional career having failed to tempt Commonwealth king Amir Khan into the ring, but Thaxton says stage-fright will not come into it.
"I just think there's going to be something very special from me on April 4th," he said.
"This is a world-class fight and when I win it I will be right up there in the world rankings."
Romanov is best-known to British fight fans for his fight with Graham Earl in January 2006 when he lost a thrilling 12-rounder.
But that was his first fight for 15 months and he has since gone on to win and defend twice, the European belt.
Success
And Thaxton knows he will have to pull out all the stops if he is to fulfil his dream of winning a major belt - and even moving up into the realms of a world title.
"I've followed his career and he had a lot of success over here a few years ago," he said.
"Graham Earl had a fantastic night against Romanov, but Romanov had been out of the ring for a long time before that one.
"I will not be fighting the same Romanov Earl did. I've watched his recent fights and his win over Carlos Diaz Melero in 2006 for the European title. He got dropped but simply got up, wiped his gloves, smiled and then pole-axed Diaz.
"So this kid is dangerous and so strong. It's a dangerous fight for me, but I'm having an Indian summer to my career that I can't see ending just yet.
"The moment I take my eyes off the ball against Romanov is the moment I'm in trouble. I've worked hard in training and I really believe I can pull it off."
