Former British 154lbs title challenger Kieron Conway is feeling ruthless ahead of his August 14 clash against one-time sparring partner Navid Mansouri with the Northampton man believing he is hitting harder and faster than ever.
Conway (14-1-1, 3 KOs) faces his MTK Global stablemate Mansouri (20-3-2, 6 KOs) for the vacant WBA Intercontinental 154lbs title on Week 3 of Matchroom’s Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex, having impressed in a draw with former British champion Ted Cheeseman at the York Hall in June 2019. He believes he has reinvented himself as a fighter and will showcase that improvement against Rotherham’s capable Mansouri.
“I feel extremely confident. I’m a completely different fighter. I’m coming here to be ruthless,” said Conway. “I’m hitting harder, I’m hitting faster and I’m fitter. I just don’t see anything other than me winning this fight.
“I’m here with hard intentions. I’m not here to mess around or make friends. I’m here to win whatever it takes. I’ve watched every fight that I can find of Nav 100 times. I must watch them every day. I never used to watch my opponent’s fights and I think that was a downfall for me. I just went in there with my plan and that was it.
“I’ve studied all of his fights. Yeah, he might come in a different guy. You never know what he’s doing but I’ve watched all them fight and I’ve seen mistakes, patterns and everything. I’m really confident with this one. My training camp has gone really well. I believe in my process 100%.
“Nav is a nice guy. I remember I went over to Marbella January time a few years ago just before my first pro fight,” he continued. “We did a few rounds. I can’t remember if we sparred once or twice but we got six or eight rounds in. From what I remember, he wasn’t in good shape so I can’t take much from it.
“Like I say, he’s a nice guy but I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to win and I’m here to completely dominate. I’m young and I’m early on in my career. Nav is older than me and has had a lot more fights than me but it’s come to the point where age isn’t going to be a factor for me anymore. If you’re good enough, you’re good enough.”
Conway vs Mansouri will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US on a bill topped by Commonwealth middleweight champion Felix Cash’s defence against former world title challenger Jason Welborn.
Main image: Matchroom.