Anthony Yarde will fight unified light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in 2023 if he can beat Bulgarian Stefani Koykov on Saturday in Telford.
The East Londoner was set to face Beterbiev before injury hit the WBC, IBF and WBO champion.
Yarde, 31, faces unheralded Koykov, who has an impressive knockout ratio, and knows he cannot afford a slip-up.
“I’ve got somebody in front of me that looks confident [and] hungry so I don’t take no-one lightly,” he said.
Koykov is 14-1 in his career with 12 knockouts, and although Yarde is expected to make short work of his opponent, he has not fought since December 2021 when he knocked out domestic rival Lyndon Arthur.
Koykov, 30, has fought his entire professional career in Germany and Yarde said he knows little of his opponent.
“This guy, there’s no footage of him online,” he said. “This could be someone else I’m fighting. That’s my mentality.
“It could be anybody. Do I care? No, because I’ve got Beterbiev next.”
