Chris Eubank Jr hopes victory over Arthur Abraham will set up a world title shot against fellow Briton James DeGale.
While IBF super-middleweight champion DeGale was having surgery on his right shoulder, Eubank was officially announcing his July 15 fight with former two-weight world champion Abraham at Wembley Arena.
Eubank (24-1, 19 KOs), 27, says fighting Abraham (46-5, 30 KOs), who lost the WBO version of the world title to Gilberto Ramirez in a wide points defeat 14 months ago, should silence criticism about the quality of his recent opponents.
"I've had haters and naysayers since I first stepped in the ring six years ago," Eubank said. "This is a fight that will silence one or two of them.
"Some people like to say I've not been tested and you can't say that after I've fought Arthur Abraham. I've dealt with it my whole career, people saying I'm only here because of who my father is. But it doesn't matter what your name is: if you can't fight, you can't fight."
After turning down an offer to fight Gennady Golovkin last year as well a rematch with Billy Joe Saunders, Eubank chose to instead fight Australian Renold Quinlan in his first fight as a super-middleweight in February.
Eubank believes he will deserve a crack at DeGale or new WBA champion George Groves if he beats Abraham, who out-pointed Britons Martin Murray and Paul Smith in recent years.
"I want the belts," Eubank said. "Groves and DeGale, these are the fights I deserve to be in and beating Arthur Abraham will solidify that claim. I'm sure we will be able to get those fight on this year or early next year.
"I want to fight the best. I'm at the stage of my career where I need to be fighting for titles. Abraham is very highly ranked. I want the world titles and I want names. I want fights that will be build my legacy. This is an opportunity for me.
"I've got the opportunity to fight one of the best super-middleweights in the world and put my stamp on the division. He's strong and come forward but I see a lot of holes in his game. I will exploit those holes ruthlessly."
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