A long-awaited return to the United States has been limited to a 14-day quarantine period in a hotel room, while awaiting a major opportunity for which he enters as a massive underdog.

Indeed, Sebastian Formella is exactly where he expected to be in his career.

The unbeaten welterweight is well aware of the circumstances and the chatter surrounding his upcoming showdown with former two-time welterweight titlist Shawn Porter. The two collide this Saturday, atop a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Fox telecast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. The heavy belief is that it’s a showcase for Porter en route to a shot at a third title reign.

Saturday’s winner will become the mandatory challenger for the World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight title currently held by Errol Spence, who also holds the IBF strap.

Whether Formella is good enough to do anything about it remains to be seen. He is certainly wise enough to know his perceived role on this card.

“This is my big step toward a major world title,” Formella (22-0, 10KOs) told BoxingScene.com. “I am in a very strong division and Shawn Porter is one of the best welterweights in the world. I don’t pretend that people see me the same. I am probably in the Top 20 now.

“We were given the chance to improve on that place and we wanted this fight.”

Formella fights for the first time in the U.S., having spent his six-year career fighting almost exclusively in Germany. The 33-year old southpaw is a proven commodity on the European level, properly developed under promoter Erol Ceylan’s EC Boxing banner to where he has claimed the International Boxing Organization (IBO) welterweight title.

The decision to fight Porter (31-3-1, 19KOs) was an easy one to make, given his career goals. In fact, the question never arose of who he was facing when he got the call to pack his backs for a trip to the states for a chance to move within one win from challenging for the welterweight crown.

“I wouldn’t come all the way here just sit in a room by myself, to take a fight I didn’t believe that I would win,” insists Formella. “I respect Shawn Porter, he’s a very good fighter and very humble, not arrogant and will face any boxer in the world. That is why I trained very hard for this fight, two sessions a day ever since my birthday (May 26) to prepare for this moment.

“To win a big fight in America has always been my dream. I am not here to be Shawn Porter’s opponent, although I know because it is (a PBC card) I am looked at as the challenger. I will do all that I can do in the ring to beat Shawn Porter and prove myself to the fans in America. I am not here just for respect; I plan to earn that but I also plan to beat Shawn Porter.”

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