Jermain Taylor says Australia's middleweight world boxing champion Sam Soliman doesn't deserve to be in the ring with him.
Arkansas-born Taylor, who was one of the stars of the boxing world before losing his world-title in 2007 and suffering a beating that led to bleeding on the brain and a two-year break from the sport, will attempt to claim Soliman's International Boxing Federation middleweight belt in Biloxi, Mississippi, on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT).
Taylor has not offered much praise for Soliman in the lead-up to the bout.
He told reporters he will "beat the hell out" of Soliman.
"I think I'm gonna go out there and beat him down," Taylor told RingTV.com
Soliman, who turns 41 next month and won the belt with a unanimous points decision against Felix Sturm in Germany in May, has brushed off the trash talk from Taylor.
The Australian knows what it is like to be a challenger seeking a world title belt.
"When you become a world champion you change from being the hunter to the hunted," Soliman told AAP.
"I have the belt and it is what everyone else wants and I'm going to enjoy defending it."
Soliman has a 44 wins (18 knockout), 11 losses professional record while Taylor, who boasts two wins over great Bernard Hopkins, has 32 wins (20 KO), four losses and one draw.
Joining Soliman on the Biloxi card is undefeated Australian light heavyweight Steve Lovett, who takes on Mexico's Rocardo Campillo.
Lovett, 29, from the NSW country town of Cowra, has a 10 win, eight knockout, record.
