Sam Noakes has said his mum Sharon has been driven ‘mad’ by the negative comments ahead of his WBO world lightweight clash with Abdullah Mason on Saturday night.

But the Kent puncher insists everyone writing him off will be held to account once he upsets the odds and becomes Maidstone’s first ever world champion.

Noakes (17-0, 15 KOs), The Ring's No. 8-rated lightweight, is a significant underdog with the bookmakers for his showdown with highly regarded blue-chip prospect Mason (19-0, 17 KOs), one place below him at No. 9, at ANB Arena, Riyadh on Saturday night.

The 28-year-old has had no problem with people writing him off ahead of the fight but says Sharon, the driving force behind his career and that of his fighting brother Sean, is not quite as understanding.

“If you go on any of the posts online, everyone is giving me stick and slating me,” Noakes told The Ring in Riyadh on Monday.

“My mum has been going mad about it. But everyone will be held to their comments afterwards because I just think I’m going to prove them wrong.

“They don’t know about me just because I’m from England, a little town called Maidstone, it doesn’t mean I can’t fight. It doesn’t bother me, really because I feel like they just don’t know yet. Mason has been promoted incredibly well and he’s a superstar over there. But after Saturday, that will be where I am.

“I don’t take offence to it, it’s just water under the bridge isn’t it? They are just going to be wrong.”

Noakes is also certain that Mason, still only 21, will be in for a surprise once the first bell goes in the Saudi capital.

“I will 100 per cent be showing him something he’s never seen before,” he added. “I feel like my style, or me as a fighter, you watch it from the outside, it looks easy to deal with.

“I think once you're in there, it's a completely different kettle of fish. Everything looks easy from the outside, but dealing with it on the night, it's going to be a bit of a shock for him.

“I’m going in there to win, I’m naturally the bigger man as well and I don’t think that’s really what he’s seen before.

"He has probably sparred people that can punch hard, it’s not like he’s unaccustomed to being hit hard but I feel like, in terms of ring dominance, he won’t have seen that before.”

Noakes was also keen to point out that he is no overnight success given his march to this point began way back in September 2019 when he made his professional debut only a few months after winning the ABAs as an amateur.

He said: “Obviously it has not just happened overnight, I've been pro six years now, slowly working up the ranks, up the WBO ranks, and then that's why it’s not like I don’t belong here.

“Once it got made it starts to become real and now I've got 36 minutes or less to become champion of the world, and it feels unreal to say it.

“Every time I do a run or a bit of cardio or when I’m alone, doing them late night runs or them early morning runs, and you're thinking about it, and you feel it in your chest.

“I’m just so excited. It’s hard to say how I feel because you’ve got to bottle it down but I’ll end up booing like a baby after the fight, I know I will. I just feel like it’s been a long time coming.”