Artur Beterbiev will face an opponent Saturday night that lost an IBF elimination match for the right to challenge the Russian knockout artist for his light heavyweight title.

Adam Deines doesn’t have a noteworthy win on his record, either, which is among the reasons the unbeaten Beterbiev is a 50-1 favorite over him. Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) has still done his best not to overlook this huge underdog entering what appears to be nothing more than a showcase for the IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion in his homeland.

“Any boxer, if that’s his occupation and he’s licensed as a boxer professionally, he’s dangerous,” Beterbiev told BoxingScene.com. “I’m not worried about Adam Deines. I know who he is. I’ve been training well. I’m well-prepared. I know that he had a good amateur career. I don’t want to underestimate him as a fighter, so I’m prepared to fight 100 percent.”

The Russian-born Deines replaced Meng Fanlong as Beterbiev’s opponent once the site of their fight moved last year from Quebec City, Canada, to Moscow due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Visa issues prevented China’s Fanlong from traveling to Russia for their fight. That prompted the IBF to approve replacing Fanlong (16-0, 10 KOs) with Deines (19-1-1, 10 KOs), who lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Fanlong in their IBF eliminator in June 2019 in Macau, China.

Beterbiev, 36, and Deines, 30, were supposed to fight October 23. Beterbiev suffered a rib injury during training, though, and their bout was rescheduled for January 30.

Once Beterbiev tested positive for the coronavirus late in December, their fight was postponed again, this time until Saturday night. Beterbiev has been training in his home country since early January for what will be his first professional fight on Russian soil.

“I always wanted to fight in Russia when I turned professional, so I do have some excitement,” Beterbiev said. “I have a lot of emotions and I do anticipate this fight greatly. I’ve been waiting for this fight.”

Beterbiev will end a 17-month layoff when he encounters Deines. He hasn’t boxed since his 10th-round stoppage of Oleksandr Gvozdyk (17-1, 14 KOs) in their light heavyweight title unification fight in October 2019 in Philadelphia.

ESPN and ESPN Deportes will broadcast Beterbiev-Deines live Saturday as the main event of a doubleheader from Megasport Sport Palace in Moscow (3 p.m. ET; noon PT). Undercard coverage will begin at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ESPN+, the network’s streaming service.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.