The 27-year-old will step into the ring against Australian legend Sam Soliman on Saturday night.

If he wins, not only will he claim the belt, but he'll also earn a world ranking and open himself up to challenge for world titles.

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Nagbe's potential has always been clear since swapping kickboxing for boxing a couple of years ago.

The Liberian-born fighter has three professional fights to his name and has won them all.

In 2019, Nagbe was set to fight for the Australian National Boxing Federation middleweight title but later withdrew due to mental health struggles.

Nagbe has been preparing at trainer Tony Salta's Geelong gym.

Salta said he would have nominated Nagbe to replace Michael Zerafa and fight Tim Tszyu if he wasn't contracted to take on Soliman.

Soliman, 47, has not fought since March, when he lost to Sakio Bika.

The fight is at the Melbourne Pavillion and will be streamed on Fite.tv.

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