Kevin Mitchell has declared that he is highly motivated and ready for war ahead of a highly anticipated clash with WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns.
Mitchell and Burns will clash at the SECC in Glasgow on September 22 in what has the potential to be a ferocious domestic dust-up.
Mitchell has admitted that the pair are friends but he will not let that stand in the way of his world title dreams.
The Dagenham man said: "You can't beat Ricky's personality, he's a lovely man and a mate of mine, but once we get in the ring we fight, that's our job.
"I've wanted this fight for a long time now and Ricky has given me the chance. I'm determined to win it, but I know I'm in for a hard night's work."
Mitchell has battled back after after a series of personal problems dogged the build-up to his defeat at the hands of Michael Katsidis in 2010, whom Burns beat in a thriller in London last November.
The 27-year-old insists that this time he will be ready to deliver come fight night.
"Of course I'm in the right frame of mind, I wouldn't have been begging for this fight for the last eight months if I wasn't," he said.
"Since the Katsidis fight I've never looked back. Everything is perfect now."
Mitchell and Burns were speaking at a press conference at the RAF Museum in Hendon to officially announce the fight.
Liam Power
