Fabio Costa is confident he can put a dent in Nikki Bascome’s unblemished professional boxing record and make the local Portuguese community proud.

The two unbeaten boxers are scheduled to meet in a six-round bout on November 11 at the Fairmont Southampton.

“I know that Nikki Bascome is a very good fighter and he is undefeated, and so am I, so it will be a great challenge,” Costa told The Royal Gazette. “But I’m very confident that I will raise the Portuguese flag proud in victory.”

Costa, who hails from the coastal town of Oporto in northwest Portugal, is yet to taste defeat in five bouts and will drop down a weight to 147lbs to meet Bascome at welterweight.

“This is my first time fighting outside of Portugal and I understand there’s a large Portuguese history and community in Bermuda,” Costa added.

“I look forward to making the Portuguese community proud in Bermuda.”

Bascome has yet to be beaten in seven professional bouts, which includes three knockouts, and is also high on confidence having overcome gruelling back-to-back wins over experienced Guyanese southpaw Iwan Azore and heavy-hitting Mexican David Rangel in his previous two matches.

Although Bascome expects a portion of the island’s Portuguese community to get behind Costa, he has warned his opponent that Bermuda is “my house” and to forget about leaving with his undefeated record intact.

“He’s coming to my house, my country, and this is my stamping ground,” Bascome said recently.

“It’s going to be interesting, but I’m going to do what I do best and that’s get the victory by any means necessary.

“I’m going to end this year on a great note and put on a spectacular performance. I’m going to look back and say, ‘This has been a good run for me this year’.

“I know Fabio is a good fighter, a solid fighter, and I’m not taking him lightly.”

Bascome will ramp up his preparations during a training camp at the Kissimmee Boxing Gym in Orlando, Florida, this month.

Bascome and Costa were in talks to fight in July, but those plans were shelved to give the Bermudian more time to recover from his points win over Rangel at North Field, National Sports Centre, in May.