Liverpool light-heavyweight Tony Bellew is convinced he can pull off one of the great British boxing upsets and dethrone WBC champion Adonis Stevenson in Quebec on Saturday night.

The 30-year-old Bellew goes into the fight as a huge underdog against big-punching Stevenson, who claimed the title in June with a stunning first-round knockout of former champion Chad Dawson.

The bout is a major step up for Bellew, who lost his only previous world title challenge via majority decision to Nathan Cleverly in October, and struggled twice this year to squeeze past Malawi's Isaac Chilemba.

But Bellew has never been shy about sharing his qualities and has matched the brash 36-year-old Stevenson in the pre-fight build-up, deriding the 5ft 11ins champion as a "dwarf" and a "midget".

Bellew said: "I've been thinking about him morning, noon and night. He's the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to bed. All I want to do is nail him."

Bellew is clearly taking great hope from Stevenson's only career defeat, a second-round loss to Darnell Boone in 2010 - a reversal Stevenson avenged earlier this year via sixth-round knockout.

Bellew added: "Don't believe the hype. You should just look at the facts, and the fact of the matter is that he's been knocked out by a journeyman.

"I've got respect for what he does, and I respect his punch-power, but come Saturday night there's only going to be one winner. I'm hurting Adonis Stevenson, and I'm taking his belt."

The bare statistics suggest otherwise. Bellew was floored twice in the opening two rounds by domestic-level Ovill McKenzie in 2010, begging serious questions over how he will stand up to Stevenson's stunning left hooks.

One clattering shot was enough to dump Dawson down and out on the canvas so dramatically that almost overnight Stevenson went from a late-starter to a sensation being lined up for major unification bouts.

Recent Cleverly conqueror Sergey Kovalev is being talked about as a prospective future foe for Stevenson, whose biggest threat to retaining his title may come from complacency.