American heavyweight Monte Barrett says he respects Shane Cameron as a boxer.
It's just that he can't see how he's going to lose to his New Zealand opponent when the pair get in the ring in Auckland on July 5.
"He's my peer," Barrett said.
"He's in the game of boxing, the life of boxing, and of course I have respect for him, but I don't feel he can beat me."
New York-based Barrett, who arrived in Auckland this week, says he's not the type who's into predicting when his fights will end.
"I'm into the punishing," he said.
"I'm just going to punish him until he wants to quit or the referee jumps in or the corner throws in the towel. One of those things is going to happen."
The 41-year-old Barrett, nicknamed Two Gunz, has a record of 35 wins, nine losses and two draws from his 46 bouts.
One of the draws was against another New Zealander, former world title challenger David Tua.
In a rematch in Auckland last August, Barrett beat Tua by a unanimous points decision.
He isn't reading a lot into Tua's second-round demolition of Cameron in Hamilton in October 2009 in the so-called "Fight of the Century".
You never judge a person by his worst performance, he says, you judge him by his best.
"In some of his good fights - what I could find - I thought he was pretty sharp," Barrett said of Cameron.
"He has a lot of heart. He comes forward and he's game.
"Anybody can get knocked out in two rounds. That's why we're boxing. It's a hurt business."
Barrett is likely to have a significant weight advantage over the 34-year-old Cameron, who is returning to the heavyweight division after a stint as a cruiserweight and is expected to weigh in around 98kg.
NZN