NEW YORK – Frank Sanchez was surprised Thursday when Joey Dawejko started talking trash during a press conference to promote their fight Saturday night.

Dawejko deemed the unbeaten Cuban heavyweight prospect “a cruiserweight” whose handlers made a matchmaking mistake because Sanchez has never been in a boxing ring with someone like him. Philadelphia’s Dawejko also predicted he’ll knock out the heavily favored Sanchez, whom Dawejko suggested looks closer to 45 years old than his listed age of 27.

“First of all, he said he’s gonna knock me out,” Sanchez told BoxingScene.com after that press conference at The Tillary Hotel in Brooklyn. “That’s impossible. It’s one thing to talk about. It’s another thing to do. I know that I’m superior to him in every aspect, and that I’m gonna have a very convincing victory on Saturday.”

The 6-feet-4, 222½-pound Sanchez (14-0, 11 KOs, 1 NC) contends that the 5-feet-9 Dawejko (20-7-4, 11 KOs), who weighed in at 247½ pounds Friday, appears better suited to fight at middleweight. Nevertheless, Sanchez suspects the experienced, durable Dawejko is in for a rude awakening when they meet in a 10-round fight FOX will televise as the opener of a three-bout broadcast from Barclays Center in Brooklyn (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).

“I didn’t think he was gonna talk so much nonsense,” Sanchez said, “especially knowing he’s not gonna win. Because he knows it. He’s really just talking nonsense. He knows I have every advantage. I’m taller. I have better technical skills, better everything.”

Sanchez feels he has improved all around since he began training with Eddy Reynoso, who also works with Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez and lightweight contender Ryan Garcia. Training alongside Alvarez has helped Sanchez learn what’s required to take his career to the next level.

“It’s incredibly inspirational,” Sanchez said, “to see a guy with so much – so much fame, so much money, so much everything – but he still stays so dedicated and so focused, and he works so hard. It’s very inspiring and very motivating.”

FOX’s broadcast of Sanchez-Dawejko will be followed by another 10-rounder that’ll match Nigerian heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba (12-0, 10 KOs) against Romania’s Razvan Cojanu (17-6, 9 KOs). In the main event, Brooklyn’s Adam Kownacki (20-0, 15 KOs) will face Finland’s Robert Helenius (29-3, 18 KOs) in a 12-round WBA heavyweight elimination match.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.