Seeing Oezdemir as a massive threat to his campaign to get back into title contention, Latifi won’t look past this fight, and instead sees it as an opportunity to show what he’s learned since suffering a loss in his last outing.

Latifi knows that Oezdemir is going to bring the fight to him and it’s his job to negate his opponent’s biggest weapons and then counter with his own offensive firepower.

“He’s been working on his whole game,” Latifi said of Oezdemir. “Of course, when you get a couple of knockouts in the first minute, you get used to that. Of course, it’s always dangerous as a fighter. You see that a lot when fighters are used to winning in the first round. 

Sometimes it can work against fighters. I think with experience, Volkan is a dangerous fighter in every round. We saw that in his last fight.

“I think I have a more well-rounded game. The experience being there, I’ve won fights on the ground, too. I can win in the first round but I can also win in the third. I’m willing to go anywhere to win the fight.”

If winning wasn’t enough motivation, Latifi really wants to put on a show in front of the Swedish audience on Saturday. 

The chance to fight at home doesn’t come along every day, and the five-year gap between fights in Sweden has made Latifi appreciate this co-main event slot that much more.

“It’s always special to fight at home, where you started. To be able to bring the show to your home crowd, your family and friends, it’s nice,” Latifi said. “I’ve been around now for a while and doing my best, so it’s nice to get that appreciation and being able to fight as a co-main event.

“Every time you fight, you have pressure. You just embrace it. It’s nice fighting at home. I don’t have a problem with that.”

As far as his title aspirations, Latifi isn’t letting go of that either, and he hopes to begin rebuilding towards an eventual shot at gold, starting with a win against Oezdemir on Saturday. 

“The aim is one fight at a time,” Latifi said. “Of course, you want to be up there for the title fight. I still have that goal in the game.”