Edison Miranda often refers to other fighters as cowards and sissies. Though he means everything he says, Miranda isn’t really that brash. In fact, he’s actually a cool customer who carefully calculates the words coming out of his mouth. Of course, judging by past interviews and press conferences, one would never know it.

Almost as soon as he began making name for himself in the middleweight division, Miranda (30-2, 26 KOs) quickly developed a reputation as a fighter who loved trading barbs as much as punches. Just as vicious as his right cross were the disparaging comments he often made toward opponents. But in a recent conversation, Miranda sounded anything but visceral. Quite the contrary, he seemed relaxed and upbeat as he took time out from training to discuss his last eight weeks in camp.

“I feel good. I thank God that everything’s gone well with this camp. No illnesses, no injuries, no nothing,” said Miranda from Carolina, Puerto Rico. “Everything is perfect.”

I expected to hear a bit of name-calling from the powerful brawler, but he seemed too busy and focused to get in that frame of mind. Instead, he seemed quite eager to discuss the sparring he’s been able to get in. “I’ve been doing what I always do for each fight: work hard,” said Miranda. “I’ve gone through different sparring partners. I’ve changed them up. I’ve used several guys from Puerto Rico like Irving Garcia and Eric Cruz.”

There was no mention of a proposed bout with Mikkel Kessler that unexpectedly fell apart several weeks ago. There was absolutely no bitterness in Miranda’s voice. Nor any indication that would suggest to the boxing world that the powerful Colombian might have ever called out, raised his voice at anyone.

Just about the only topics Miranda really wanted to explore and discuss at length was his development as a professional prize fighter and naturally, his highly anticipated rematch with Arthur Abraham. “I feel stronger. I believe I’m more experienced, more mature, and just a better fighter [all around],” said Miranda. “I feel like a different fighter from the time I fought Abraham. This time around, I’m set to win. That’s the strategy. I’ll do whatever I have to do to beat Arthur Abraham.”

Two years ago, Miranda lost by unanimous decision to Abraham in Germany in a fight that drew a lot of attention from fans. Though Miranda lost by wide margins on all three judges’ scorecards, he made headlines for breaking Abraham’s jaw. Since then, Miranda has registered impressive knockouts and solid wins over fighters like Howard Eastman and Allan Green, as well as a loss to Kelly Pavlik. More importantly, he’s developed quite a following of fans who love his scrappy, do-or-die style. They know that win or lose, Miranda always makes for entertaining bouts.

Against Pavlik, the current world middleweight champion, Miranda was stopped. But before that, he threw all the punches he could till his legs gave out. Sustaining that kind of effort in every fight is the reason why Miranda is respected, if anything else.  It’s the reason why Miranda is not at all discouraged that he has yet to win a world title. It explains why he’s always supremely confident that he’s going to win, even if his opponent is more technically sound.

Though he doesn’t sound that aggressive as his training camp comes to an end, Miranda is anything but placid. Maybe he’s trying to save energies for Abraham. One thing’s for sure: Miranda wants us to be ready. “It’s going to be good,” said Miranda. “I want to tell Arthur Abraham to take care of those screws he has in his chin because I’m coming strong.”