Skye Nicolson is hoping Tiara Brown will take her to a place that she is yet to go in her professional career.

Nicolson, the current WBC featherweight titleholder, has so far looked sensational in her first 12 fights in the paid ranks. The Australian star has barely got out of second gear in her short career, picking apart her opponents using her silky southpaw skills.

She will, however, face her toughest test this Saturday in undefeated American Tiara Brown at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. Brown has been confident throughout fight week, even attempting to snatch Nicolson’s title during a heated head-to-head.

Nicolson understands that the challenge of Brown could be her toughest yet and has prepared accordingly.

“She's good. I mean, I don't think you can be 18-0 (11 KOs), an amateur world champion, and not be good,” Nicolson told BoxingScene. “So, yeah, she's good. She's a smart fighter. She hasn't really been tested as a pro. She hasn't really fought any high-caliber opponents as a professional, so it's kind of hard to, I guess, gauge where she's at right now. But obviously someone who's had the amateur pedigree, has come through the system, has been a world gold medalist in the amateurs, you have to take them seriously.

“So we have definitely prepared for this fight with Tiara as if it will be the hardest fight of my career, and that's what we're expecting, and that's what we're hoping for as well, because obviously I haven't really been tested myself either, and I have been in with good girls, so I want to be tested.

“I want people to see that there's more to what I do,” she continued. “I want to… it's a weird one, I don't want to say I want to be in a hard fight where you don't know if you've won or not at the end, but I do want to show that if things get tough in there, I can, and if it's sink or swim, I can swim, and I can swim good.

“So part of me hopes that Tiara brings that out of me. I don't mind winning fights easy and comfortably. If that's the way it goes on Saturday night again, find me someone better, find me someone that is going to test me and make me swim. But we're 100 per cent ready for anything Saturday night. If it's sink or swim, I'm ready to swim, and if it's another doggy paddle to victory, then so be it. But we'll see on Saturday night. We'll see what Tiara's got.”

Brown brings something to the table that is rare in the women’s game – a high knockout percentage. Her 11 KOs in 18 professional contests makes Brown a dangerous proposition and for that reason Nicolson must stay switched on at all times when sharing the ring with her.

“I think you have to kind of fight that way with anyone,” said Nicolson. “ I know I punch hard. I've only got one KO on my record, but I've hurt and dropped a lot of girls in sparring. I know I can punch, and just because I haven't fought in a way that has really shown that, or has got the KOs, especially in the two-minute rounds… but yeah, you kind of have to fight like that with anyone, one punch can change anything.

“I've definitely been in with dangerous punchers. Diana Vargas had a very high KO ratio, so I know kind of how we're going to go into this fight. But in the same breath, I have seen [Brown] land a lot of shots against girls, like basically throw the kitchen sink at them, and they're still there. sS I think some of those knockouts maybe weren't as impressive as it looks on paper. But like I said, we prepare for the best version of her, we prepare for the hardest fight, and we'll be prepared for whatever comes on Saturday.”