THERE was another face-the-Press session this week as interest builds in my super-middleweight unification fight with American Jeff Lacy in Manchester on March 4.

Much of the attention from the national media, perhaps understandably, focussed on my previously injured left hand and I was able to reassure them, as I have told you many times in this column, that everything is fine.

I told them that the broken bone has mended, that I am free of all pain and that the specialist has told me it will be stronger than ever.

They all wanted to know when I will start using it in earnest in sparring. I told them that I will begin light sparring next week before building up four weeks before a fight with more intense sparring, hopefully including against a couple of Americans we will fly in.

There is no need to continuously spar between fights, I never have, because there is always a risk of a lot of fighters leaving it behind in the gym.

At the end of the day I want to leave all of my venom for the ring.

So I'll gradually get into the sparring next week, gradually build up to intense sparring and my father will then see when I'm ready to go when I will knock the sparring on the head. Then it will be all systems go for fight night which I honestly can't wait for.

Another main item the Press were interested in was how I was going to cope with a 2am fight time (to accommodate American Showtime TV who are televising the fight live in the Sates), but I don't see that as a problem.

I'll probably start training at later times as the fight approaches and start going to bed at 1am or 2am a few weeks before to adjust my body clock.

But I've always been a night owl. I come alive late at night and when I fought Chris Eubank to win the world title I didn't get into the ring until 12.15am. I had been warming up in the changing rooms from 9pm. So I don't think I need to do anything drastic.

Many people also remarked at the Press conference in Cardiff that they had seldom seen me look more relaxed and that is because I am totally relaxed and 100 per cent confident of winning in March.

I'm always at my best when I stay chilled out for as long as possible before a fight and the reason I'm so chilled is out is that I know I will win.

As the fight gets nearer the adrenalin will kick in and I'll get excited and get into the right frame of mind to do my job, but in the meantime I'm Joe Cool.

As for Lacy, well because I'm faster, have faster hands and greater skill there is only one way he can beat me and that is if he catches me with a great punch. That's his lottery ticket.

There is no way he can outbox me and because I have the tools to beat him I have to make sure I don't give him a chance.

He has looked impressive in his fights to date but he is untested against the top guys while I have been in the ring with six or seven world champions.

And when I took the world title off Chris Eubank he had won more world title contests than I had had fights.

I know Lacy will try to nail me with a big right hand over the top but he won't succeed because it's my destiny to unify the division and then move up to light-heavyweight and become a two-weight world champion.

But there is no way I'll be complacent. I have never underestimated an opponent in my life and I don't intend to now and a couple of world title upsets in America last week showed you can never take anything for granted.

The biggest upset was the defeat of highly-rated Zab Judah in his world welterweight clash with veteran Argentinian Carlos Manuel Baldomir.

Baldomir was a 16-1, unrated underdog but pinched a narrow though unanimous points win to show, in Judah's case, if you don't prepare right you don't win.

The Argentinian was 100 per cent fit for his big chance, kept coming forward and in winning ruined Judah's big planned fight against the world's number one pound for pound fighter, Floyd Mayweather, in Las Vegas in April. For Judah it was an expensive lesson.

Finally, this weekend Denmark's unbeaten WBA super-middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler defends his title against Eric Lucas in Brondby.

I'm not particularly interested in the contest, even though both were previously linked with fights with me, but I believe Kessler will win easily.

I never rated Lucas who I believe to be a very limited fighter and he is now way past his best and I expect Kessler to stop him in the middle rounds, maybe sooner.

And no, even in a period of big upsets in boxing, I don't think Lucas could prove another Carlos Baldomir.