Adam Etches can only dream of knocking me out, says Sergey Khomitsky

Sergey Khomitsky has dismissed Adam Etches as a dreamer and warned he will get a rude awakening when the pair meet in Sheffield this weekend.

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Undefeated Etches believes his punching power will see him claim his 16th knockout and 19th straight win when he tackles the tough Belarusian for the IBF international middleweight belt on the undercard of Kell Brook’s title defence on Saturday.

It's very easy to dream about knocking me out, but very difficult to do.

However, Khomitsky, in a career spanning 16 years, has only been legitimately halted by Kazakh superstar Gennady Golovkin and holds wins over Sky Sports expert Jamie Moore and upcoming prospect Frank Buglioni.

In his two other stoppages, 'The Ghost' suffered an injury retirement against Avtandil Khurtsidze, while a mix-up with the taping on his gloves accounted for his other inside-the-distance loss to former world champion Robert Stieglitz.

"It's very easy to dream about knocking me out, but very difficult to do," said Khomitsky. "As soon as the bell rings, Etches will realise he's let his imagination get the better of him.

"I know he is very young and talented with a big punch. He'll need more than that against me, though.

"I do not like to make predictions, but I am very motivated for this fight and I have people waiting for me to return to Belarus with a resounding victory."

Etches is one of British boxing's biggest ticket sellers and will certainly have the crowd behind him come fight night.

Khomitsky, however, isn't fazed by that and is planning to convert some of Adam's supporters to his own cause.

"The fans are expecting Etches to beat me and I'm happy to be the underdog, but I like to beat the home favourites, I like to beat the champions and I want to return to the top of the world rankings," he said.

"UK fans know me very well and I like the atmosphere they create. When I start to beat Etches, I think they will start to support me instead of him."

Etches v Khomitsky features on a huge night of boxing at the Motorpoint Arena as Kell Brook defends his IBF welterweight title against Romania's Jo Jo Dan and Gavin McDonnell continues his fairy tale story, challenging Ukrainian Oleksander Yegorov for the vacant European super-bantamweight title.

Frankie Gavin makes his Sky Sports return as he prepares for his crunch clash with Chris van Heerden on May 9 in Birmingham and former world bantamweight king Anselmo Moreno makes his UK debut against Wales’ Robbie Turley.

Kal Yafai continues his march towards a world title and GB Podium squad member Charlie Edwards fights for the second time in the paid ranks on the bill.

Watch Saturday’s action from Sheffield live on Sky Sports 1 from 19:30