Arnold Barboza has grown sick of hearing mentions of Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor ahead of what is easily the biggest fight of his career.

Alex Saucedo, on the other hand, is just fine with such conversation. In a way, it’s a reminder of what they are fighting for this weekend. 

“A big win will put me in line for a big fight in the division,” Saucedo told BoxingScene.com ahead of Saturday’s showdown with the unbeaten Barboza (24-0, 10KOs). “I just want to fight the champions.”

Their intriguing junior welterweight crossroads clash airs live on ESPN, as the chief support to the World lightweight championship between Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10KOs) and Teofimo Lopez (15-1, 12KOs).

Oklahoma City’s Saucedo (30-1, 19KOs) hopes to one day enjoy undisputed championship status of his own. That dream could become much easier for any 140-pound contender, given the mega fight currently in discussion between unbeaten unified titlists Jose Ramirez (26-0, 17KOs) and Josh Taylor (17-0, 13KOs). The hope is for a meeting in the first quarter of 2021, with the winner to gain universal recognition as the undisputed and lineal junior welterweight champion.

Saucedo’s lone loss came on the title stage, suffering a stoppage defeat at the hands of then-unbeaten title claimant Maurice Hooker in November 2018. Two wins have followed, with another on Saturday putting the 26-year old in prime position for a second chance at a lasting impression.

“The 140-pound division is on fire. I’m just ready to fight anyone,” insists Saucedo. “I really want to fight Jose Ramirez after this. The fight between me and Ramirez—it’s gonna happen. If it doesn’t happen now, it’s going to happen some time next year.

“We're both young, we both wanna fight each other, so that fight's gonna happen either after this fight, or later on. It’s gonna happen.”

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