By Keith Idec

Dejan Zlaticanin can change everything about the course of his boxing career Saturday night.

Even though he is the defending WBC world lightweight champion, his opponent, Mikey Garcia, is considered the ‘A’ side of their equation. Garcia is an unbeaten two-division champion who has fought numerous times on HBO and Showtime throughout his 10-year pro career.

Zlaticanin is a celebrity in his native Montenegro, formerly part of Yugoslavia. Elsewhere, the 32-year-old champion mostly is unknown.

The powerful southpaw is 22-0, including 15 knockouts, but Vegas handicappers have made him about a 2-1 underdog against Garcia (35-0, 29 KOs). Unfazed by the odds and Garcia’s status in the sport, Zlaticanin has promised to knock out Garcia in their scheduled 12-round fight.

“I’m very excited because I’m fighting on this big stage at MGM Grand,” Zlaticanin said through a translator during a conference call last week. “That’s the mecca of boxing, and against a very good and famous fighter like Mikey. And I prepared very good for this fight. And I believe I will be victorious on the 28th.”

Zlaticanin won the WBC world lightweight championship in his last fight, when he beat Bolivia’s Franklin Mamani (22-3-1, 12 KOs) by third-round technical knockout June 11 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. That made him famous in Montenegro, particularly in Podgorica, the nation’s capital and Zlaticanin’s hometown.

“I’m very famous there,” said Zlaticanin, who’s managed by Al Haymon and promoted by Lou DiBella. “They recognize me, everyone from kids of five years, all the way up to 80 years. Everyone knows me. But the people who are representing sports, the ministers, they don’t really know what this means for them. And for every country, not just for little countries, this is a very big result.”

It means more to Zlaticanin to be embraced by Montenegro’s citizens, though.

“People love me because I’m the first champion [from Montenegro] and they know that’s something special,” Zlaticanin said. “And after this fight, I believe I will not be just famous in my country. I will have recognition worldwide.”

Before beating Mamani, Zlaticanin defeated Scotland’s Ricky Burns (41-5-1, 14 KOs), the current WBA super world super lightweight champion, by split decision, Russian contender Petr Petrov (38-4-2, 19 KOs) by unanimous decision and then-unbeaten Russian contender Ivan Redkach (19-2-1, 15 KOs) by fourth-round TKO. With that type of experience on his record, Zlaticanin didn’t hesitate to accept a difficult fight against Garcia, of Oxnard, California, as his first title defense.

“I like to fight the best,” Zlaticanin said. “I don’t feel good when I win [against] someone maybe he’s not too good of a fighter, and when I go, I know I will win the fight. I don’t want that. I want to fight the best and to fight dangerous opponents and to test myself every time to be better and better.”

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