By Steve Kim

Joseph Diaz gets another chance to shine on a big stage as he faces Manuel 'Tino' Avila as part of the pay-per-view undercard this Saturday from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas before Saul Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. butt heads.

But Diaz admits that down the line he has his sights set on facing the premiere names in the featherweight division, namely the likes of Oscar Valdez, Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares, who like him, are all based in the Southern California region.

"I think about them every single day," he admitted. "I want to sell-out arena's here in Los Angeles and give the fans what they want to see and that's great fights with big names in L.A. Hopefully that's soon."

The 24-year old native of S. El Monte is currently rated number two by the WBC (who's featherweight belt is held by Gary Russell Jr) and number two by the WBO (who's champion is Valdez). Valdez's recent slugfest with Miguel Marriaga was something that was of great interest to him.

"(Valdez) is a great fighter and he showed a lot of heart, a lot of discipline. He came out swinging, put on a great show for all the fight fans,"Diaz (23-0, 13 KO's) said of his potential rival."But you could see a lot of flaws like in every other fighter. You can see the flaws that they need to work on and improve. I'm sure Oscar Valdez has seen that, as well. So he's going to work on it.

"But at the end of the day I'm willing to fight any of these guys."

Steve Kim is the news editor for news editor for BoxingScene.com