Teen star Adam Maca has explained why he believes he can beat The Ring No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter Naoya Inoue already.

The 18-year-old (1-0, 1 KO) is preparing for the second outing having punctuated his June debut by stopping Rafael Castillo in the second of four rounds in the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

His first pro fight on British soil will take place in Sunderland on September 6 with no opponent confirmed, but eyebrows were raised when he declared that if it were undisputed king Inoue in the opposite corner then the belts would be returning to Maca’s native Brighton.

Now, during an interview with The Ring’s Louis Hart, the young bantamweight insisted his lofty claim is not just meaningless bluster.

When asked if he really believes he could beat Inoue, 32, already, he said: “Yes I believe it. Put a lie detector on me.

“In a 10- or 12-round fight I just don’t think anyone can beat me, full stop. I have that confidence in my ability and my fitness. I train hard, I work hard. I don’t think anyone works harder than me. That’s where the confidence comes from.

“My team are pulling the reins and guiding me in the right way. I understand I’m not going to be in big fights straight away. It’s building up to that and building the hype around it as well. Say I face Inoue in a few years, it will be well known what I’ve said, everyone will know that I’ve said it.”

The reality is that even in an ideal world, Maca is still years away from world title contention, even though his promoter Eddie Hearn described him as a "freak of nature."

The next step takes place on the undercard of Pat McCormack’s clash with Miguel Parra and Maca expects another victory live on DAZN.

He added: “Obviously people will say, 'He’s in with a binman,' but it’s an apprenticeship so I’m going to take everything fight by fight and win by win and build up to the big fights. I’m more than happy to build up in the right way.

“Obviously this is just my life now. There’s no school, there’s no college, it’s just gym, eat, gym, sleep, repeat. It’s not a bad life is it?

“I had my debut at MSG so that was a flying start and then it has been what I expected; bright lights, cameras and just head down training.

“As long as I’m staying active and getting the fights, I don’t mind where it is. I’d fight in my back garden if I kept my activity up. A ring is a ring and a fight is a fight.”

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), who makes a defense Sept. 14 vs. Murodjon Akmadaliev in Japan, has had 23 world title fights alone.