Claudele Duprier is confident he can “rise to the occasion” when he faces Bermuda’s Nikki Bascome at next month’s Extreme Entertainment Knockout Night in Dockyard.

The welterweight bout to be held at the Victualling Yard on July 11 will be the South Florida resident’s first as a professional and he is determined to put on a good show.

“It’s a big day and I am excited,” said Duprier, who won 15 fights as an amateur before turning professional.

“This is everything I have been waiting for because it took so long in the amateurs to understand the world of boxing, so right now it’s ready or not ... the time is now.”

The upcoming fight will be held just over a week after Duprier turns 29 and victory in his first outing as a professional would be an ideal birthday gift.

“That would be the ideal thing and that’s why I have been preparing myself so I can rise to the occasion,” he said. “I’m getting up there so it’s time to make a big impact on this day, so that’s the hurdle that I have to jump over right now. You can be good but you have to be tested and right now this is that test.

“Boxing is more mental than anything, so I just have to block everybody out and focus on this fight. If people are rooting for me or booing me I wouldn’t even know. I’m just trying to keep my mind clear and I can’t make any excuses.”

Duprier, who is of Haitian descent, is still doing his homework on Bascome whose professional record stands at an 2-0.

“I don’t know what I am up against but I got to be prepared for it,” he said. “I don’t know what this guy looks like or whether he’s a monster or an alien. I just know his record and name.”

Duprier believes he is the underdog going into the fight.

“I know I’m the underdog, it’s guaranteed,” he said. “I’m on his territory.

“I’m flying across the water to some unknown place where people fly in the Bermuda Triangle and don’t come back, so it’s all against me. They are trying to keep me warped in this Bermuda Triangle, so I’ve got to fight my way out and the fans can expect a hard fight.”

The bout between Bascome and Duprier is part of a main event double-header also featuring American women’s boxers Kirunis Dulei and Lena Taylor, who is a four-times national champion.

The undercard will feature several of the island’s top amateurs.

Tickets can be purchased at Sports Source, Sports R’ US, Audio Visual and online at BDATIX.BM.