Anthony Joshua big fight diary: Being at the heart and soul of boxing's golden era is so special

When I first laced up my boxing gloves, if someone had told me I'd fill out Wembley Stadium with 96,000 people, I would have laughed them off.

But strange as it would seem back as my teenage self, this has become normal to me — be that selling out a massive stadium or starring in a Guy Ritchie movie, albeit a short one to promote Saturday's fight.

As a kid, I wasn't always comfortable with the spotlight — who is? — but I thrive on it now, the lights on me, people chanting my name, knowing that millions around the world are tuning in to watch.

People want to see history in the making as I try to join the likes of Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko as a three-time world heavyweight champion.

To be spoken of in the same sentence as those greats of this wonderful sport makes all the hard work worth it.

And the expectation from nearly 100,000 people is huge. They expect me to win and they expect me to put on a show but none of that can exceed the expectation that I put upon myself.

Lose and the doubters start to circle again, the questions crank up once more. Sometimes even winning isn't enough. I've got to explode on to that stage, soak up the pressure and deliver, and I thrive on that.

It's odd as with all the build-up, suddenly the night and the fight is over. It's Sunday morning, it's just like any other day, the washing still has to be done and there are still bills to pay.

Both myself and Daniel Dubois know how bitter the taste of defeat is, and that is not a sensation I expect to be feeling when I wake up on Sunday morning.

I'm ready, there have been no glitches in my camp, sparring has been great, technically I'm sound, physically I'm strong and all credit to Ben Davison for getting me into the shape of my life.

He lives and breathes boxing even more than me. He's so good at knowing how to get the best out of me and I know he's got the perfect game plan for my opponent as he did for my previous opponent. I like to think we already make a good team, and this is just the start of our journey together.

Ben and I know that my pure power — and that is obviously still a big strength – is not enough. We need to plot how to disrupt my rival, how to put him on the back foot and how to nullify his weapons. It's as much a mental battle as it is a physical one.

The appetite for this fight is huge. We're two big guys who like to hit hard, and audiences thrive on that. But we're just two figures in what feels an increasingly golden era for boxing. To be at the heart and soul of that is so incredibly special. And I want to stay there.

Every heavyweight fight is a risk, we hit hard and that impacts the body. I'm not naive enough to think this business is danger free. I'm taking a big risk each time I step into the ring, my opponent too, which is why those who come against me always have my eternal respect.

The risk is there because this is war and I'm ready to go to war on Saturday night.

There is such a journey travelled to get to this point from my teenage self. I've proved I deserve this big stage and there's been so many smaller journeys from one fight to the next.

This journey has been a special one, I feel blessed to have another shot at being a heavyweight champion of the world.