The team surrounding Amilcar Vidal will continue to search for the toughest possible competition in and around the middleweight division—and he is here for it.

After having taken out three straight unbeaten opponents, Uruguay’s Vidal takes on his most significant foe to date in Immanuwel Aleem. The two collide in a middleweight bout this Saturday, as the opener of a Showtime-televised tripleheader from AT&T Center in San Antonio.

“I view every opponent I face as a difficult test,” Vidal told BoxingScene.com. “It’s fair to say that Aleem (on paper) is more experienced than anyone I have fought so far. That has been accounted for in our preparation for this fight.

“My job is to rise to the occasion, go in and win and progress in my career regardless of who is in my way.”

Vidal (12-0, 11KOs) has proven to be far too good for the run-of-the-mill prospect level. The undefeated 25-year-old knockout artist from Montevideo, Uruguay—who now trains out of promoter Sampson Lewkowicz’s facility in Coachella, California—was expected to be tested in each of his last three fights, including two televised appearances in the United States.

Both stateside-based fights ended in early knockouts, beginning with his taking out unbeaten Zach Prieto just before the bell to end the opening round of their November 2019 bout on ShoBox. In his most recent outing, Vidal tore through Edward Jeramie Ortiz (11-0-2 at the time) in less than five minutes last November on FS1 from Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Aleem (18-2-2, 11KOs) has seen ups and downs but has proven to be a tough out in his nine-year career. Saturday’s bout will be his first since December 2019, when he fell just short to Ronald Ellis after pushing former title challenger Matvey Korobov to the brink earlier that year.

The career accomplishments of Aleem thus far are enough to command the attention of his next opponent, who is being groomed as a future player in the middleweight division.

“There are several great fighters in the 160-pound division. I’m not focused on those guys right now,” insists Vidal. “My future is Saturday night. That’s as far ahead as I am looking, is Saturday night. Everything else can wait.

“There are definitely some great names in this division. I have to win on Saturday to begin thinking about those fighters. It’s meaningless to think about any of them now when I have Immanuwel Aleem to focus on.”

Vidal-Aleem will serve in supporting capacity to the undisputed junior middleweight championship between linea/WBC/WBA/IBF champ Jermell Charlo (34-1, 18KOs) and WBO titlist Brian Castaño (17-0-1, 12KOs).

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox