ANTHONY YARDE

One day guns were pulled on us by older guys. My friend had gone to sell his moped and they took the moped, my friend's phone and some money. But all he got from my pocket was a tub of Vaseline. I remember him saying, 'Oh, he's a sweet boy' and throwing my Vaseline on the floor.

I don't want to become world champion and lose it immediately. I want to become world champion, take over the division and take it from there.

The Rock is somebody that every kid in my era grew up watching. Legend. His success is not only in wrestling but what he's done after it has been spectacular.

I've got a lot of criticism for not taking domestic fights but I've got my own strategy.

It's about getting in there and being ready, getting the fight on your terms, taking the least amount of punishment possible.

I remember when I used to go to York Hall and just watch, and I'd be like 'how are these people doing it.' Even though I was an amateur boxer at the time, I was like 'how are these guys fighting professionally in this arena?'

Some people are natural-born punchers and I think I've always had it.

I sometimes look on YouTube and see people label videos 'Anthony Yarde sparring his trainer Ade' but that is not sparring, that's just practice. We practice getting attacked, countering and attacking your opponent back, in intelligent ways.

I thought the Mike Tyson story was beautiful and it drew me in. He was bullied, a small kid who started knocking out giants.

I didn't start boxing until I was 18 but I believe that is a big advantage now. If you start too young, it's easy to become distracted.

I just say to myself I'm going to be a better fighter day to day. That's my thing.

I believe when you rush your work, you're not thinking about what you're doing. That's when you make mistakes.

I want to make all my family proud, particularly my mum, Sonia.

I train hard, but having a fight on the cards so often gives me targets and focus.

I always saw myself going down the path of success.

When you get a bit older, life can start kicking and it was mainly the area I grew up in that began to lead me astray. I went down the wrong paths to some degree.

It doesn't matter about the man behind the belt. For me, it's about the title.

100 percent, I'm a natural athlete. From when I was younger, I played so many different sports and I've got a competitive mindset.

You need to mourn, you need to be upset, to give yourself time to replenish. Then you use it all as fuel to get stronger.

Mayweather has been hit the least out of every world champion in history and that is the art of the sport; to hit and not get hit.

When I first went into a boxing gym I watched Kovalev fight on TV and now my name is spoken about in the same light as him, now I'm fighting him.

My first boxing experience came at around 14. There was always confrontation in the area I grew up in. My mentality, I'll be honest, was if someone tries it with me, I want to be able to knock them out.

I've had 12 amateur fights, 18 professional fights and I've come to Russia, not just to Russia but to Chelyabinsk, home of Sergey Kovalev who has an impressive resume. The fact I've come to his backyard means I feel it will go down as one of the best results ever.

Mark Prince is a massive inspiration to me, he has been since I started boxing.

I wasn't good at football when I was young but I made myself get good at football because of my mentality.