Anthony Joshua believes his fight against Gary Cornish for the Commonwealth Heavyweight title will “bring the best out of me”

The Watford-born London 2012 Olympic champion met his fellow unbeaten opponent face-to-face for the first time yesterday since the contest at the 02 Arena on Saturday, September 12 was announced last week.

Joshua has won all of his 13 professional bouts so far by knockout and has yet to be taken beyond the third round.

The 25-year-old’s most recent success was against Kevin Johnson for the WBC International Heavyweight Title, with Joshua knocking the American fighter down in spectacular fashion inside two rounds.

Joshua was in a bullish mood at yesterday's press conference in London and said: “There’s no turning back now. I thought I would need three years to learn and make mistakes, so I am ahead of schedule. Gary won’t just talk a good game like Kevin Johnson, he’s undefeated and will bring it on the night because he’s got the confidence of an unbeaten fighter and he’ll bring the best out of me and I will do the same for him.

“The date has given me the chance to recover my body from May 30 and have a nice long camp for September 12, so I expect to be at my explosive best on the night.”

Joshua’s opponent wasn’t pulling any punches either, insisting: “If I wanted to fight him for the money, I would wait until next year when I would be 26-0 and the fight might be for more than one belt – I am ready and I’ll prove it on September 12.”

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn added: “Its two unbeaten heavyweights and an Englishman versus a Scotsman – so this is going to be a great build-up.

"As Anthony said, Gary won’t just talk about fighting and run. Gary believes that this is a 50-50 fight and I expect him to approach the night accordingly, and he’s going to bring passionate fans down with him.”

The undercard includes South Oxhey featherweight Reece Bellotti, who will be looking for his third knockout since making his professional debut in May.