Simpiwe Vetyeka faces the toughest challenge of his career when he fights Nonito Donaire in Macao on Saturday night.
The South African is set to make the first defence of his WBA ?super? featherweight title against a former three-division champion who has been rated as one of the best boxers, pound for pound, in the world.
Vetyeka also has to make a potentially intimidating leap from Mdantsane, a township outside East London, to the glitter and opulence of a Chinese venue that compares well with those in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Monte Carlo and Moscow.
The Cotai Arena at the hotel Venetian Macao may as well be a million miles away from where Vetyeka learnt to box and where he has done most of his fighting.
But the 33-year-old Vetyeka is not easily overawed. He won the title from an opponent who had been undefeated in 50 fights and had held the belt for 10 years. His victory over Indonesian veteran Chris John in Australia last December was one of the biggest surprises of the year.
Vetyeka has won 26 and lost two of his professional fights. Sixteen of his opponents failed to go the distance.
Donaire, 31, is from the Philippines, where only Manny Pacquiao has more boxing fans. He has won ?world? titles in three divisions and was considered one of the top fighters in the world until he lost to Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba in April last year.
Seven months later he came from behind to stop another former champion, Vic Darchinyan, in the ninth round.
Donaire enters the ring as a former IBF flyweight champion who also held the WBC and WBO bantamweight and WBO and IBF super-bantamweight titles. His professional record stands at 32-2, including 21 wins inside the distance.
Vetyeka is a former SA bantamweight champion and has also held the IBO bantamweight and featherweight belts.
He is taller than Donaire, moves well around the ring and has fast hands and a sound defence, as shown by the fact that he has never been stopped.
His defeats were in fights against Hozumi Hasegawa in May 2007 when he challenged the Japanese star for the WBC bantamweight belt and Klaas Mboyane, who beat him on points over eight rounds in June 2012.
Donaire may be the betting favourite in some quarters but to beat the South African he will have to recapture the form that made him such a star before his last two defeats. He also has excellent hand speed and explosive power.
Vetyeka, who tends to relax and keep his hands low, will probably try to fight from the outside, keeping Donaire at a distance. It could be an intriguing battle; one of those that could be decided by one mistake.
Luis Pabon will referee the fight and the judges are Raul Caiz, Francisco Martinez and Levi Martinez.
On the same card Jamaican Nicholas Walters (23-0; 19) will defend his WBA ?regular? featherweight belt for the second time when he faces Darchinyan (39-6-1; 28), an Armenian who has done much of his fighting out of Australia.
Another undefeated champion, Russian Evgeny Gradovich (18-0; 9), makes the fourth defence of his IBF featherweight title when he takes on Alexander Miskirtchian (24-2-1; 9) from Georgia.
