Terri Harper insists their growing enmity will only fuel her in her fight against Caroline Dubois.
Harper and Dubois put their WBO and WBC lightweight world championships on the line in their clash, live on Sky Sports on Sunday April 5.
They have exchanged fierce words throughout the build up to their unification and Harper has condemned her rival champion.
“I don’t like rude people. I don’t like bullies. That’s the vibe she gives me. She just rubs me up the wrong way,” she told Sky Sports News.
“It’s great though because that’s what I need. Because I probably am a bit laid back.
“She gives me that fire in my belly that I need. I actually want to go out there and do the work on her.
“For me there’s no pressure, Caroline’s the one who’s been running her mouth.”
She added: “I’m glad she’s had a lot to say. She’s done the dirty work for us and she’s selling the fight. It would have been quite hard if we were both quiet and polite like myself. Caroline’s done the work now and it’s time for me to do the work on [the] Sunday night.”
The reigning WBO belt-holder at 135lbs, Harper is a seasoned three-weight world champion. She believes she has a crucial advantage against her younger opponent.
“I feel like as a fighter I’ve experienced probably everything you can experience. A broken hand, cuts, pull outs the mornings of fights, as a fighter I’ve got a lot under my belt, I’ve got a lot of experience and I know I’m going to be able to use that to my advantage on the night,” Harper said.
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Caroline Dubois and Terri Harper went head-to-head on the Gloves Are Off.
“It’s huge, it’s my advantage. I’ve experienced everything and on the night you kind of know how to play the rounds in certain scenarios so I’m just going to use it all to my advantage.”
She believes she will zero in on a weakness in Dubois’ armoury.
“She will tire, 100 percent. The pattern’s set, you can see it,” Harper declared. “Caroline going over to America for three weeks’ training, it’s not going to miraculously improve her fitness. I’ve just got to focus on myself and do what I do best.
“You can see that she fades the second half of the fight so I’d be quite surprised if she carried that power through.”
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Caroline Dubois repeated her claim that she considers Terri Harper ‘irrelevant’ and says victory on April 5th is just the start of her boxing legacy.
Harper is anticipating a landmark night in her own career.
“It’s everything I’ve dreamed of from being a young amateur,” she said.
“I’ve just been that focused on the job I’ve got to do. Once it’s all been and gone I can sit back and realise what I’ve done.”
