A fighter's mouth can be deceiving, but their eyes never lie. I looked into the eyes of Audley Harrison at yesterday's weigh-in and saw nothing but terror and trepidation.

Words are hollow and mean nothing when it comes time to throw punches and back up the talk. Pre-fight chat sells tickets, but it will never help you throw punches any better.

Through the course of my 20-year boxing career, I've come to the realisation that, ultimately, talk means little in this game. It doesn't effect a damn thing once the bell rings.

Forget everything that has gone on between Audley and I in the past two months and forget who said what and why they said it. Wipe it from your memory. I can assure you now, it means nothing.

Despite our history, Audley is just another opponent for me. He is no different from John Ruiz or Nikolai Valuev. I see Audley as an anonymous face that I feel the need to desperately punch hard and repeatedly. With only hours to go until battle, Audley isn't a friend or enemy. He's just an opponent stood in front of me and someone that must be removed as swiftly and cleanly as possible.

People will soon realise that the only thing Audley brought to this fight was a big gob and a few wedding speeches. He's had his chance to stand at the table, raise a glass and deliver a few emotional lines, but he'll be asked to let his fists do the talking tonight. That's something Audley has always struggled with and, unlike me, he will have been dreading the fight approaching.

I know Audley and I know he will have got more of a kick out of talking about the fight than actually competing in it. He'll get his backside kicked, but he won't enjoy it.

As for yesterday's weigh-in, sure, Audley looked in decent physical shape and put on a brave front. The weigh-in was a great spectacle and it had that 'big fight feel' that always sends a nice shiver down my spine. I thrive on occasions like this.

People were surprised I came in light at just over 15 stone, but I've always maintained that speed beats this entire heavyweight division and, at that particular weight, I'm quicker and better than ever. I'm also a lot stronger and puncher harder than ever before, despite coming in heavier for my past two heavyweight bouts.

It would have been nice if Audley could have got under 18 stone, but I'll accept the weight he came in at. I hope he's worked hard in the gym and hasn't slacked off, but, in the end, it won't mean anything anyway.

Audley can control two things in this fight - his mouth and his training. I can't stop him running his mouth and I can't stop him running in the mountains. Apparently, he's done lots of both.

However, the things that I control will be apparent tonight in the ring - the place were it all counts. Audley will discover he's 10 levels below me and 10 paces slower than me and, with a gumshield shoved in his mouth, won't be able to say one word to dispute those facts. Audley always has an excuse or explanation for every problem that faces him, but tonight will be different.

We've stopped swapping verbals, and, unfortunately for Audley, it's only punches being traded from here on in. If the pre-fight nonsense resembled a pantomime, the actual fight will resemble a... no, I won't go there again!

Enjoy the fight!

David Haye, AKA The Hayemaker