Ex-MLB superstar Jose Canseco is boxing a 22-year-old Barstool Sports intern TONIGHT ... and the intern tells us why he's convinced he's gonna BEAT the 56-year-old's ass.
Jose's opponent is Billy Football -- who's VERY confident he can send the former slugger to the canvas when they clash in the main event of Barstool's "Rough N' Rowdy 13" card in West Virginia Friday night.
"I have a very, very competitive side to me that's gonna come out Friday night," Billy tells us.
"I think I'm gonna shock Jose. Jose has misjudged me and I think -- as a lot of people would -- they don't actually know who I am and what I can sort of accomplish."
The whole thing stemmed from a beef between Jose and Alex Rodriguez -- with the "Pardon My Take" intern ultimately volunteering to take on Canseco, despite having zero experience as a pro athlete. You can see the full story in this video ...
There's a big size difference between the two men -- Jose is 270 lbs, Billy is 225 -- but Mr. Football says he's not scared.
"It's gonna be very fun to shock the world and show everyone that 'Oh, hey this guy's for real'. This isn't just some s***-show that got thrown together."
Since the fight was slammed together on a month's notice, Billy says his training focused more on stamina than power. But, let's be honest, he's gonna need both.
No matter who emerges victorious, Billy says he hopes the two can be friends after the fight.
"He's gonna end up respecting me and hopefully at the end of it, we can go hunting Big Foot together. But first, we got some stuff to deal with it. It's gonna be a great fight. I'm excited."