Carl Frampton has been here before. Maybe not at this level of fight -- this is, after all, a Sky Box Office main event, a huge domestic showdown, and a fight that will also be aired live in the United States on Showtime -- but on the big stage, in the main event, in world title fights.
For Saturday's fight with long-time media rival Scott Quigg, which will unify the IBF (Frampton) and WBA (Quigg) super bantamweight titles, Belfast's Frampton (21-0, 14 KO) isn't sure that Quigg will be up to the task.
"I have wanted this fight for a long, long time. I thrive on the big occasions and there are not many bigger than a domestic super fight," he said, before going on to take a shot at how Quigg became a "world champion."
"I won my world title on a massive stage, Scott Quigg was handed his title after a draw. He has fought on big cards but not as a bill-topper and I genuinely don't know if he will be able to handle this level of pressure. I'm going to use all of my experience to outbox, outfight and outgun Scott Quigg."
Frampton, 29, believes that Quigg (31-0-2, 23 KO) and his team may be putting too much stock into what happened in Frampton's last outing, when he was dropped twice in the first round by fringe contender Alejandro Gonzalez. After that, Frampton took over the fight and won handily by decision.
"We've been chasing these boys for years. They didn't want it, end of story," he said. "Then all it took was one below par performance from me to convince his team that they should finally take the fight. If that first round in my last fight is what they're basing their hopes of victory on then Scott is in for a big, big shock."
The biggest edge that Frampton and trainer Shane McGuigan see comes from their boxing IQ, something the trainer feels Quigg lacks -- at least in comparison to Frampton.
"There is a lot of debate about who hits harder between Frampton and Quigg. I know Carl Frampton is the hardest punching super bantamweight in the world," McGuigan said.
"One thing you can't argue about is who has the better pedigree and who has the better boxing brain. Carl wins hands down in both departments and he is going to show this in brutal and clinical fashion. Carl can box off the back foot, he can fight on the front foot and he has devastating one-punch power."
Frampton is quick to credit McGuigan for helping him develop a well-rounded game.
"Shane is a brilliant coach, I've been saying it all along. But now people are sitting up and taking notice," said Frampton. "Shane and I work hard on tactics and techniques when we approach every fight, but we both know that if tactics need tweaking mid fight I can think my way through a contest. Scott Quigg can't."