“I LIKE Wladimir Klitschko.

“I like him not only as a fighter but as a person, as a man as well.

“You go back and scratch your head because many people criticise him for the people he fight. Every time he fight he’s fighting somebody nobody really knew about, nobody really heard of.

“The thing about it, he making his money, he supporting his family. They can talk about how he clinches in the ring and stuff like that: hey, you do whatever it takes to win in the ring, that’s how I feel, you do whatever it takes to win in the ring. It’s at the point where now he’s at the top of his game. We don’t know how long he’s gonna last now, he’s getting a little older – every man is different – especially in the heavyweight division where there’s bigger guys with bigger power. But right now, he redeemed himself when he’s down and he’s up. He’s one of the guys I definitely respect. Even if he still wasn’t a champion I’d still say the same about him.

“I definitely believe I can beat him. There’s no fighter in the world that I feel I can’t beat. That’s just the confidence I have. Someone asked, ‘Would you beat Lennox Lewis?’ and I said the things I said. People don’t know, me and Lennox talk, he calls me, I call him, and he understands what I was saying, especially me being younger and having a very confident attitude and feeling nobody can beat me. As long as I get the same opportunity to train as the next man.”

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