Trevor Bryan believes this is the fight where his career finally heads in the right direction.

It has nothing to do with the opponent in the opposite corner, as Bryan (21-0, 15KOs) is expected to steamroll undefeated but obscure heavyweight Jonathan Guidry (17-0-2, 10KOs) in their secondary WBA title fight this Saturday. A win by Bryan is expected to lead to bigger things, namely a potential mandatory title fight with England’s Daniel Dubois who has been vocal about landing a fight with the unbeaten American.

“I’m the champion. A lot of guys are supposed to shoot their shot for me,” Bryan noted of Dubois’ recent call out ahead of his own title defense versus Guidry. “That’s the same thing I was doing when I was in their position. Now they’re in that position.”  

Dubois (17-1, 16KOs) will be among the interested observers for Saturday’s show, which takes place as part of Hall of Fame promoter Don King’s independently distributed Pay-Per-View event (Fite TV, SRP $49.95) from Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio.

The fight is the first for Schenectady’s Bryan since upgrading his interim belt to the WBA “World” strap following an eleventh-round knockout win over faded former WBC titlist Bermane Stiverne last January in Hollywood, Florida.

Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13KOs) currently holds the recognized WBA heavyweight title, along with the IBF/WBO/IBO titles, while England’s Tyson Fury (31-0-1, 22KOs) is the reigning WBC and lineal champion.

The fight took place exactly one year ago to the date of this weekend’s show and both under the same circumstances—with Bryan originally scheduled to face Mahmoud Charr, who was forced off both shows due to failure to secure a P-1 travel visa which resulted in replacement opponents being secured in his absence.

Louisiana’s Guidry mysteriously appeared in the most recent set of WBA heavyweight rankings released January 1, just in time to answer the call once Charr was removed at the January 5 deadline set to submit all necessary paperwork. Bryan does his best to go with the flow, the one-year inactive stretch following a ring absence of more than 29 months following his August 2018 interim title knockout win over BJ Flores.

The hope is that fights such as what is scheduled this weekend are no longer the norm for Bryan, an unbeaten 32-year-old heavyweight who is ready to show the world that he can rule the roost. A fight with Dubois would serve as a proper gauge where he belongs in the heavyweight mix, with the winner to serve as an attractive option for Usyk or even Fury down the road.

“I don’t care too much about fussing over who this and who that. When my manager (Tony Gonzalez) tells me who I’m fighting next, I’m a fighter,” notes Bryan, who has spent his entire career under Don King Promotions. “I love to fight. I sign that dotted line, I’m ready to go against whoever that may be. Dubois, Tyson Fury, whoever. That’s what I do best. Everyone is supposed to gun for me.

“Everyone is supposed to speak my name. After this, everyone’s gonna be speaking my name and saying I’m the best.”

Headlining the January 29 PPV event, WBC cruiserweight titlist Ilunga ‘Junior’ Makabu (28-2, 25KOs) faces Thabiso Mchunu (23-5, 13KOs) in a mandatory title fight and rematch to their May 2015 clash, which Makabu won via eleventh-round stoppage in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

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