James Tennyson is determined to seize his big chance and become Ireland's fourth reigning world boxing champion in Boston this weekend.
The Belfast native will join Ryan Burnett, TJ Doheny and Katie Taylor, who fights on the same bill on Saturday, in the sport's elite if he can beat American Tevin Farmer and claim the IBF super featherweight strap.
"Fighting for a world championship is what every boxer dreams of," Tennyson told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.
"I knew I was gaining on it but how soon, I didn’t really know. But we’ve got it here and it’s straight in front of us.
"I’m very excited. We’ve been working hard, I’ve been in camp for quite a lot of weeks now. Plenty of hard sparring. I’m excited to get camp wrapped up and get out there and get the show on the road.
"I want to put my name out there and really stamp my mark on world boxing."
Tennyson (22-2, 18 KOs) was dropped by a heavy body shot in his last outing, against Martin J Ward, but bounced back to stop his opponent in the fifth.
He feels the heart that he showed that night in London set him up for this opportunity, against an opponent who lost four fights in the early stages of his career, but remains undefeated since 2012.
"It definitely built me up as a character. I climbed off the canvas and gave a good account of myself. It really put my name out there.
"I’m going to take that world championship back to Belfast"
"It was an exciting fight and that win really got me to where I am today.
"He’s a tricky customer, good on his feet and quick-moving. It’s not going to be an easy night’s work.
"We’ve both been down, we’ve both had our losses, a lot of speedbumps along the way.
"Now we’re here and fighting each other for the world championship.
"I’m going to take that world championship back to Belfast."
On the same card, Katie Taylor defends her WBA and IBF titles, super lightweight Sean McComb aims to extend his perfect pro record to four wins and heavyweight Niall Kennedy (11-0-1) is back in action.
Despite facing an American on his own soil, Tennyson is expecting to have vocal support in a city renowned for its Irish links.
"I've been told it's going to be like fighting home away from home, the support is going to be unbelievable so I'm very excited to make my US debut," he said.
"I saw a lot of the Irish fans out there at the press conference and got a good reception so I’m really looking forward to the atmosphere on fight night."
