Dmitry Bivol and Joe Smith Jr. met for one final time today at the Dream Hotel in NYC at the final presser ahead of Saturday night’s WBA world light heavyweight championship bout at Turning Stone Resort Casino to be aired LIVE on DAZN.

Smith Jr (24-2 20KOs) fights for a first time for the world title and will be full of confidence going into the bout, with his last four wins coming by impressive KOs, including a first round demolition of Poland’s Andrzej Fonfara in Chicago and sending modern-great Bernard Hopkins into retirement. Bivol (15-0 11 KOs) defends his title for the fifth time against the Long Island man and is hoping Smith Jr comes for a war.

Joe Smith, Jr: I put everything I had into this training camp, I worked real hard and I’m looking forward to this Saturday to put on a great show for everybody. This is what every fighter dreams of – a shot at a world title and this is my shot. The work has been put in over the years and I’m going to put it all together this Saturday and give you a great show and become the next champion and I’m going to go home with the belt and share it with my whole town and with my family and with everyone who helped me get into this position.

Dmitry Bivol: I am ready to fight and I hope Joe is ready to and we will make a great fight and don’t miss it. Joe Smith is a good boxer, he is young and he throws a lot of punches – it is a good match for both of us. I gain experience in every fight I have had and I will gain experience because of his style in this fight also. He has good power but it is not his best quality – he has good speed and good combinations.

More Dmitry Bivol comments…

I have watched many of Joe’s fights and he has good power. He tries to push his opponents to the ropes and beat them there. Of course, my style can help me to win and, of course, if I do everything which I did in my training camp I will win.

I want to show my skills to the boxing fans, it doesn’t matter to me where I fight. I have had a lot of fights in other countries and other cities – I just need the ring and the opponent in the ring. I think Joe will move forward a lot and use his jab a lot and try to land his right hand. I fight every fight like it is my last fight.

On talk of Canelo moving up…

”Of course that is great when other great fighters move to our division – it is good for all light heavyweight boxers. But I don’t need any more motivation than my belt. My belt and my family is the motivation for me.”

On Bernard Hopkins getting knocked out of the ring…

“How old was Bernard? I really respect Bernard Hopkins but he wasn’t in his best shape when he fought against Joe Smith. I watched a lot of Bernard Hopkins’ fights and I learned a lot from him.”

Of course I can say that our sport is very dangerous but my father worked as a bus driver and that is dangerous also. Many people die in bus crashes.

On fighting Andre Ward if he came out of retirement…

“Why not? He was one of the best light heavyweights and I want to make great fights. Right now I am in my best shape and my best years so I need to make the best fights. If Andre Ward wants to come and make a fight with me I will be glad to, of course.”

I can make 168 for big fights. Not any fight but for big fights. It opens more opportunies for me that I can make 168.

On the other light heavyweight champions…

I want to fight any champion at 175 – from Brown to Badou Jack – but it is tough to pick an opponent because right now all I am thinking of is Saturday night. I know that Kovalev has great boxing skills but he had to put those skills together in the ring. It wasn’t just tactical but he showed us that he can put it together.

Plans for the next couple of days…

I will just keep my shape and keep positive emotions. I will talk with my coach and my mangers and tell a lot of jokes and relax.

I just like to fight. I like training and I like to be in the ring. It is not enough to have just power and have just speed or technical. You have to have some of everything. I don’t have the hardest punch and I am not the quickest, but it is complete.

When I get in the ring for a fight I feel like I am living and I feel excited and after the victory it is great.

On his start in boxing…

We saw a lot of movies with Jackie Chan when I was younger and I wanted to fight like him. My father took me to the karate section then he took me to the boxing section for more competition

Dmitry Bivol Monday Conversation…

I have watched a few of Joe Smith’s fights. I watched the Fonfara fight, the Barrera fight and the Hopkins fight. I can say that he is a strong fighter, a strong guy and he has a strong right hand and he moves forward. He is a good opponent for me and I think I can get a lot of experience from fighting him.

He tries to be more aggressive and he’ll try to push you and be aggressive and I will be smarter and outbox him. He uses his strength. I use my intelligence.

On Smith knocking Hopkins out of the ring…

It can happen to anybody. He did catch him. Bernard was next to the ropes and he got hit and he fell out. Sometimes it happens..

On becoming a world champion in so few fights…

Of course, we weren’t sure, but we had plans when I turned pro to become a champion quicker and of course I am glad that the plans were realized and that we could make it happen. Now I want to fight the other champions to get more belts. I want fans to know more about me and for more people to watch my fights.

On learning English…

I have been learning English by watching TV and I took some lessons from a teacher and I have a couple of apps in my phone.

Favorite fighters…

When I started boxing I loved Mike Tyson, then I watched a lot of Roy Jones Jr. fights and then I watch fights with Sugar Ray Leonard – I like how he used his legs in the ring and I like his style – he moves a lot and he threw punches easy, he looked like he threw punches easy but they landed hard.

And Pernell Whitaker was a very interesting fighter and one of the best fighters that I watched. I liked him because he always looked like he had fun in the ring. He was very light in the ring and he was very positive like it was a holiday. Like he was enjoying it, and I liked that very much.

I don’t know what will happen in the ring, only God knows. I had a great training camp and I had great sparring partners. I am ready to fight and I only believe I in my victory – I can say only that.