It's a busy period for the light heavyweight division and contender Albert Ramirez will look to boast his own title credentials on Thursday.

Ramirez, rated at No. 5 by The Ring at light heavyweight, will face once-beaten Marko Calic at the Montreal Casino, Montreal.

"I feel very prepared, I feel confident, my confidence is at the top. I'm ready to do wherever Calic wants to go in the ring," Ramirez (19-0, 16 knockouts) told The Ring through trainer Jacobo Crismatt. "If he wants to go long range, mid-range or short range, I'm prepared for that.

"I want to show people in Montreal, Canada, that I am ready to become world champ."

However, when the 32-year-old southpaw is asked about Calic abilities, he is refreshingly honest.

"I haven't studied the fighter," he admitted. "My team is the one who studied the fighter. Whatever [my team] say to me, I'm going to do in the ring. I've got to listen to my team, if they say, 'You've got to take care for the hook or the cross, he's going to throw.' I know I've got to be prepared for that."

Ramirez, who hails from Venezuela, has had to fight overseas for most of his career, save his last bout when stopped former world title challenger Adam Deines (RTD 7) last August.

He hopes to be a catalyst for more boxing events at homeland which has suffered due to political unrest and upheaval which as lead to a difficult time economically in recent times.

"Me being world champ will help Venezuela get attention for a lot of good boxers we have in the country," he said. "The [sanctioning] organizations will put attention into Venezuela, and we can get the opportunity for other boxers, one, two, three, four world champions will come from Venezuela."

But first he must reach the mountain top.

He hopes this is the last step before facing one of the bigger names in the division.

"I'm very happy the 175-pound division is moving a lot. You can see this month some of the top 10 contenders are going to fight and that makes me happy," he said alluding to the weekend's fight between David Benavidez-David Morrell and the upcoming Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol rematch and Joshua Buatsi-Callum Smith, which both take place in Riyadh on February 22. "I just want to get the knockout easily, so I can show how good Albert Ramirez is.

"I always respect my promoter and managers decisions but I'm always ready, I would like to fight Artur [Beterbiev], [Dmitry] Bivol, [David] Benavidez, [Anthony] Yarde, [Joshua] Buatsi, whoever comes in front of me.

"Albert Ramirez is here at 175-pounds, I'm going to be the best, I have been working hard for my position, not through politics, I get my position through hard work, dedication, I'm here to become world champ. I'm ready to go."

Ramirez enjoyed the weekend showdown between Benavidez and Ramirez but offers a warning.

"Both fighters came from 168-pounds, so when you see them going to 175-pounds, the power changes a lot," he explained. "They need to adapt to the division; it will take longer because you see fighters come from 200-pounds cutting weight to 175-pounds and when they recover, they can easily [put back on] 20-pounds.

"In my case, I said Benavidez would win the fight. He won the fight because Morrell didn't show his Cuban style, he decided to go toe-to-toe. Benavidez had more experience, Morrell doesn't have the pro experience, Benavidez took that advantage into the fight."

Ramirez says Benavidez wouldn't be able to do the same against him and welcomes such a matchup.

"I want to fight Benavidez because he's a good rival for me," he said. "In a few months I'm going to know who I'm fighting next; I would be happy to fight Benavidez.”

Calic (15-1, 9 KOs) turned professional in 2016. The Croatian-born fighter won his first 11 fights before losing for the first time when he stepped up against Joshua Buatsi (TKO 7).

The 37-year-old returned with four wins, but put his professional aspirations on hold when he reverted back the amateur scene, in an attempt to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, but was unable to.

Biyaslanov-Mimoune, plus undercard bouts will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 6:30 ET/ 3:30 PT and in Canada on punchinggrace.com.