Charles Martin doesn’t want to waste what’s left of his boxing career waiting on veteran heavyweights to fight him.

The former IBF champion instead intends to box a young, undefeated heavyweight to prove he still has what it takes to compete at the championship level. Martin informed BoxingScene.com that he hopes to fight one of three unbeaten heavyweights later this year.

“I can’t get Luis Ortiz or Adam Kownacki back in the ring with me and forget that bitch-ass Dillian Whyte,” Martin said. “He has always been scared to fight me. Deontay [Wilder] and Andy [Ruiz] are probably fighting each other, so I have to go after one of the young guys. The three young guys that look decent are Jared Anderson, Daniel Dubois and that Cuban, [Lenier] Pero. I’m gonna clip one of these guys that no one wants to fight to prove a point, that I’ll fight anyone and do anything to become a two-time heavyweight champion.”

Anderson (13-0, 13 KOs), of Toledo, Ohio, is scheduled to fight April 8 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, but Martin isn’t considered an option for the 24-year-old knockout artist’s next fight. London’s Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs), who owns the WBA world heavyweight title, and Pero (9-0, 6 KOs) don’t have dates set for their respective returns to the ring.

The 36-year-old Martin (29-3-1, 26 KOs) last fought September 4, when the St. Louis native knocked out Devin Vargas (22-8, 9 KOs) in the fourth round on the Ruiz-Ortiz undercard at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. In Martin’s previous appearance, the strong southpaw dropped Ortiz twice, once in the first round and again in the fourth round, before Ortiz (33-3, 28 KOs, 2 NC) came back to floor Martin twice in the sixth round and stopped him in a fan-friendly pay-per-view main event that took place in January 2022 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Martin, who resides in Las Vegas, tested positive for COVID-19 the day after he fought Ortiz. That’s among the reasons Martin wants another shot at the hard-hitting Cuban southpaw.

“I’ve been working at the UFC gym for a couple months, without a fight scheduled,” Martin said. “I’ve never done that in my life. I used to be off for six, eight months and get the call to do a five-to-six-week camp and fight. I’ve never been this dedicated or felt this strong before, so get me these young guys.”

A motivated Martin expects to secure his next fight soon. He has fought just twice since he stopped Gerald Washington (20-5-1, 13 KOs) in the sixth round of their February 2020 bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“I already got some offers I’m discussing with my manager [Mike Borao],” Martin said. “I wanna fight more often. I know I only have a couple more years left, so I plan on being busy and making them count.”

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