By Wally Downes Jr.

LUKE CAMPBELL will switch off the golden-boy charm and become a bad man on Saturday night when he tries to batter pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko to defeat.

The baby-faced London 2012 Olympic winner is a fans’ favourite and the star of ‘What It Takes’, a film documenting his camp and preparations for his shot at the WBA and WBO king.

Ahead of the bout, that also has the vacant WBC title on the line, Campbell is shown as a loving son, a dedicated daddy to Leo and Lincoln and a loyal husband who hates spending so much time away from his Hull home training.

But, against the two-time Olympic winner and three-weight world champ, he will shelve his better-wouldn’t-melt smile and immaculate manners in an attempt to take Loma’s head clean off his shoulders.

Campbell said: “I treat everyone the same when I speak to them, I am never rude or nasty. If you treat me nice, I will treat you nice.

“But, when someone is trying to take your head off, you are going to want to be able to switch it on and take his head off, aren’t you?

“As soon as the bell goes, that is it, I am focused and I have a job to do.

“I am not going to try and guess his movement or punch where I think he it going to be. I am going to punch him exactly where he is stood.

“You can have the perfect gamplan and blueprint to beat him but everything changes in the ring and you have to just react to what is in front of you.”

The fight has been 16 years in the making, after the pair first crossed paths in 2003 and later both won gold at the 2012 Games, in different weight classes.

Campbell recalls the first time he ever spotted the former featherweight and one of his most famous training trademarks.

And how quickly he was distracted by a bevvie of beautiful Russian woman he deemed far more enthralling at the time.

He said: “From 2003 to 2012 I was on the same tournaments as him, the European championships would have been the first in 2003.

“He had one of those tennis balls tied to his hat, for punching practice and I remember thinking ‘what the hell is that’ and now everyone has one of them.

“But then I remember some Russian gymnasts or dancers walked by and I suddenly wasn’t as bothered about watching him warm-up”.

Loma last boxed at York Hall in 2013, a year after winning the Olympics, in a tournament called the world boxing series and beat a Brit called Sam Maxwell.

And though the reception he received at York Hall tonight could differ when he’s in the ring with home favourite Campbell, Lomachenko insists coming to the UK for the vacant WBC title was a must.

He said: “Of course I remember this place, I remember Samuel Maxwell and I remember all the Ukrainian flags, the Ukrainian fans, a lot of people came out here. It’s a good memory.

“I don’t know (if it will be the same) because I am fighting a famous British guy, he has a lot of fans and we are here in the UK. But I don’t care about it.

“Of course it is not easy, but I have a dream and that is to unify the title and that is why I have come.”

Article courtesy of The Sun