Aaron McKenna is known as ‘The Silencer’, but the Irish middleweight has decided that he has remained quiet for long enough.

The business-like McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) would much rather let his boxing talk for him, but although it goes against his character and principles, the 26-year-old contender has grown tired of being ignored and has decided to speak out.

“That's the way it should be, but it's getting to a stage now where the middleweight division has fallen asleep,” he told The Ring.

“It’s gone from the days where the middleweight division was one of the most exciting divisions in the world, and people used to love a lot of middleweight fighters. It’s lost a bit of that.

“Outside of the heavyweight division, the middleweight division was the best division in the world back in the day. GGG [Gennady Golovkin] and Canelo [Alvarez] kept it alive as well but now, this last few years, you have the champions holding the belts hostage.

“You have [WBA champion] Erislandy Lara, who hasn't fought in over a year. No one knows what's going on there. Is he injured? What’s the story with him?

“Then you have [WBC champion] Carlos Adames. He won't fight any of the other champions, and he's just probably waiting on a big offer. Another champion who's just holding the belt.

“[WBO and IBF titleholder] Janibek Alimkhanuly is probably the only one that actually wants to unify but, knowing the other two champions, he’s very unlikely to get a unification with them.”

In April, McKenna proved his quality by outboxing and outfighting former WBO junior middleweight titleholder Liam Smith over 12 rounds. It was the type of breakout performance that has earned scores of promising young fighters the chance to fight for a world title belt.

Almost six months on, McKenna is still waiting to reap the rewards of his efforts.

Believing that the current champions are happy for him to remain in the shadows, he has decided to go on the offensive and issue direct challenges to all three titleholders.

“I'm knocking on Janibek's door for a big fight,” he said. “We were actually in contact with his team and it was looking likely at one point, but I think he just went a different direction and tried to get a unification with Adames and Lara again, and it doesn't look likely that will happen.”

McKenna believes that the talented 32-year-old Kazakh represents the highest hurdle between him and his world title dream, but it is a barrier he is running directly toward rather than around.

“I think with both [of my] styles I could beat Janibek, whether it's boxing or [fighting] really aggressively,” he said. “He's probably the best world champion out of the three, but I think aggressively, if I really put it on him, I don't think he's seen a pace like mine before. He hasn't seen some of my boxing skills, so it would definitely make for an interesting matchup.”

Lara has held versions of the WBA title since 2021. The 42-year-old Cuban has been an outstanding fighter, but has boxed just five times in five years and hasn’t seen action since he stopped Danny Garcia last September.

“I'm 26 now, 20 fights in. I'm only getting started and Lara, he's very experienced, but I think I'd be too much for him,” McKenna said. “He was very slick and still is a good boxer, but I think my style is all wrong for him. I'd give anyone a hard night. I have a really good engine and not only can I make use of that, but have boxing skills as well. A lot of people found out in the last fight just how good of a boxer I am technically.”

Recently McKenna and WBC titleholder Adames shared memories of some previous sparring sessions during an exchange on social media. Unsurprisingly, both had different recollections of how things went.

The 31-year-old Dominican hasn’t boxed since fighting to a split draw with Hamzah Sheeraz in February.

“At 19, I did a lot of sparring with him at Robert Garcia's gym when he was well in on his pro career,” McKenna said. “I know exactly what I could do with him, and I'd be more than confident going into that fight."

McKenna's primary ambition is to win a world title but his long-term goal is to return the middleweight division to its former glory.

The 160-pound weight class has always been one of the sport's glamour divisions. Heavy-handed heavyweights will always capture the imagination, but everybody can relate to a middleweight fighter with the perfect mix of speed and power.

Some of the most popular fighters in boxing history have held the middleweight title.

“It does take a lot to become world champion, but then when you become one, you want to keep it going,” McKenna said. “You want to keep it flowing. I know I'd want to be fighting at least four times a year like in the olden days.

“It's the most prestigious division in the world, and it should still be that way. People should want to tune in to it, and it's just kind of fading a bit. I want to be the guy that brings that back. I want to become world champion and unify the division and fight three, four times a year at least.”

McKenna currently sits at No. 7 with the IBF and WBA, No. 11 with the WBC and No. 13 with the WBO. He also has his eye on the famed Ring Magazine belt.

The prestigious title currently lies vacant, and McKenna -- who is positioned at No. 7 in the magazine's rankings -- is ready and willing to box anybody who will move him closer to it.

His victory over Smith came on the undercard of the exciting middleweight fight between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn. The show was Ring Magazine’s first-ever boxing event, and McKenna’s well rounded, dominant performance impressed some important people.

McKenna is hoping that he will be given another chance to display his talents on a major show and that the idea of performing on a such a platform may just persuade Janibek, Adames or Lara to step between the ropes with him.

“I think someone needs to win the prestigious Ring Magazine belt, and I want to do that. I want to get myself in a position where I can win The Ring belt. It's the best and biggest belt of them all,” he said.

“It really tells you it's the best middleweight out there. It doesn't matter who they come with. If I got my opportunity to fight for The Ring belt, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

“There's be no better man to do it than Turki Alalshikh. He knows how prestigious that belt is, and I think I'd be the man to bring big time boxing back to the middleweight division.”