ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania – Gary Russell Jr. has stated during this promotion that Tugstsogt Nyambayar doesn’t have any pressure on him.

Russell’s unbeaten mandatory challenger begs to differ. Nyambayar is motivated to reward the supportive people in his home country of Mongolia by upsetting Russell in their 12-round WBC featherweight title fight Saturday night.

If Nyambayar beats Russell, the second-longest reigning champion in boxing, he’ll become just the second recognized world boxing champion from Mongolia. There hasn’t been an IBF, WBA, WBC or WBO champion from Nyambayar’s homeland since Lakva Sim lost the WBA lightweight title to American Juan Diaz in July 2004.

Sim won the WBA super featherweight title in June 1999, but he lost it in his first defense in October of that year. He captured the WBA lightweight championship in April 2004, yet he also lost that title in his first defense versus Diaz three months later.

The 27-year-old Nyambayar (11-0, 9 KOs) has been considered Mongolia’s most talented boxer since he won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He lost in the flyweight gold medal match to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez, a southpaw with whom Nyambayar sparred more than 50 rounds to help prepare for his shot at the left-handed Russell (30-1, 18 KOs), of Capitol Heights, Maryland.

The Russell-Nyambayar bout will air on free television in Mongolia, starting late Sunday morning local time.

“Every Mongolian has been excited about this fight since last year, when I became the mandatory for Gary Russell,” Nyambayar told BoxingScene.com. “They’ve been waiting for this moment for over a year now. I’m pretty sure all of Mongolia will be watching this fight.”

Nyambayar left Mongolia, a nation of just over 3 million people, for Los Angeles nearly six years ago to pursue his pro career. He wants nothing more than to return there with the WBC featherweight championship belt.

Nyambayar won the less recognized IBO title when he defeated Dominican contender Claudio Marrero in his last fight. The contender nicknamed “King Tug” hasn’t fought since beating Marrero by unanimous decision in their 12-round WBC elimination match last January 26 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“I’m very happy that the Mongolian people respect me and show me love,” said Nyambayar, who went 140-10 as an amateur. “They’ve always embraced me, from the time I won a silver medal. They raised me to become a world champion, even when I was an amateur. They’ve been watching me since I was a kid. They’ve always wanted me to become a champion. Mongolians are excited about this.”

Showtime will televise Russell-Nyambayar as the main event of a tripleheader from PPL Center.

The telecast also will include a 12-round, 118-pound title bout between Cuban-born, Miami-based Guilllermo Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs, 1 NC) and Panama’s Liborio Solis (30-5-1, 14 KOs, 1 NC). They’ll fight for the vacant WBA world bantamweight title.

The show will begin at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT with a 10-round, 130-pound contest that’ll pit Panama’s Jaime Arboleda (15-1, 13 KOs) against Puerto Rican veteran Jayson Velez (29-5-1, 21 KOs).

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