Friday 30 June 2017 15:33, UK
Ahead of his much-anticipated return to the ring, Conor Benn believes he is a new and greatly-improved fighter and is ready to unleash his skills at the O2 Arena.
Benn has been out of action since his first-round stoppage of Steven Backhouse last December and will finally return on Saturday against Danny Little on the undercard to Frank Buglioni's title defence against Ricky Summers.
The 20-year-old is confident that the hard graft he has put in behind closed doors this year will undoubtedly pay off and Benn is ready to show his supporters a new 'Destroyer' and continue what he believes is Britain's most exciting journey in the sport.
"I'm finally back and I'm going to be better than ever," Benn exclusively told Sky Sports, "I've been grafting away, working very hard and come fight night, everyone will see the change.
"I want to show my skill, I haven't really demonstrated that yet. It's always been there, but with the pressure, I have been going into fights with the wrong mentality.
"I was fighting people with bad records so I felt like I had to blow them out and get a knockout victory. My mind-set had to change and now I'm ready to take my time and pick my shots. If it goes the distance, that's no problem as long as I am winning every round clearly and showing my skills.
"I don't really feel like I've been away because I've always been working away in the gym and without the press, cameras and pressure, I've managed to focus and learn a lot."
Although the unbeaten Essex fighter wants to be more patient when in the ring, Benn still wants to give fans plenty of excitement - something they've become accustomed to.
I personally feel sorry for my opponent on Saturday, I'm a different type of Destroyer now. I've been grafting away, working very hard and come fight night, everyone will see the change.
"Of course I will bring the excitement and skills, the supporters love that explosive work, I can take one to give one, that's my style, but I need to keep cool and be more calculated with my shots.
"I recently put a training clip up on social media and you can just see the excitement there. This is a journey and I believe it is the most exciting one in Britain, everyone has seen me come in as a kid at 19 and transform into a man.
"I personally feel sorry for my opponent on Saturday, I'm a different type of Destroyer now."
Benn's father and former two-weight world champion Nigel will be in attendance on Saturday night, but will not be too close to the action.
"Dad will be watching but he will be watching from a box. He came to a sparring session recently and I was all over the gaff, I went full guns blazing and had an absolute war.
"The next day when he wasn't there, I was blinding so I decided he should go to the box."
Watch Frank Buglioni against Ricky Summers this Saturday night, with Joshua Buatsi, Conor Benn, Lawrence Okolie, Ted Cheeseman and Reece Bellotti also in action at The 02, from 7.30pm on Sky Sports 1.
