LAS VEGAS – Brian Norman Jr. “knows” he will become boxing’s next undisputed welterweight champion.

Norman only owns one 147-pound championship belt at the moment, thus he wants a title unification fight as soon as possible. The WBO champion informed The Ring following his third-round stoppage of Derrieck Cuevas on Saturday night that he wants to battle WBC champ Mario Barrios next.

The 24-year-old Norman knows he’ll take some criticism for not calling out the Jaron Ennis-Eimantas Stanionis winner. From Norman’s viewpoint, however, beating Barrios would give him two belts and as much negotiating leverage as Ennis or Stanionis.

Philadelphia’s Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs, 1 NC) and Lithuania’s Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) will fight for Ennis’ IBF belt and Stanionis’ WBA crown April 12 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the meantime, Norman’s handlers hope to initiate a conversation with Barrios’ representatives to gauge their interest in matching Barrios with Norman next.

“Barrios is babysitting his belt, trying to hide in the corner,” Norman told The Ring after he stopped Cuevas. “Step outside and let’s make it happen.”

San Antonio’s Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) most recently battled Abel Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs) to a 12-round split draw on the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson undercard November 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Barrios is aligned with Tom Brown’s TGB Promotions and Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions.

Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. (Norman) and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing (Ennis) nearly came to an agreement late last summer for an Ennis-Norman title unification fight November 9 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Talks ceased because Top Rank and Matchroom couldn’t agree on Norman’s compensation package. Ennis instead dominated Ukraine’s Karen Chukhadzhian again November 9, when he won another unanimous decision over Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs).

Norman (27-0, 21 KOs, 1 NC), of Conyers, Georgia, was first scheduled to oppose Puerto Rico’s Cuevas (27-2-1, 19 KOs) on November 8 at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. An injury suffered while training necessitated a second surgery on Norman’s left hand and caused a 4½-month postponement.

ESPN televised Norman-Cuevas as its co-feature before Las Vegas’ Mikaela Mayer defeated England’s Sandy Ryan unanimously in its main event, a 10-round rematch for Mayer’s WBO women’s welterweight title.

Norman knocked the hard-hitting Cuevas to the canvas with a left hand when there were 10 seconds to go in the third round. Cuevas beat referee Thomas Taylor’s count, but Taylor stopped their scheduled 12-rounder with one second remaining in the third round because an unstable Cuevas didn’t adequately answer his commands.

With healthy hands and an abundance of confidence, Norman wants to be as active as possible in 2025. He hopes his year proceeds with the abovementioned unification bouts with Barrios and the Ennis-Stanionis winner.

“Being a world champion is a very amazing feeling, but there’s more to it,” Norman said. “It’s not just having a title. I wanna be that guy. There’s a whole lotta champions in the past that’s held a belt and we don’t care about or know about. And I don’t wanna be one of them. My goal is to become a future Hall of Famer and a future legend in the game. Will people say, ‘Who would have won, Brian Norman or Ray Leonard?’ Ray Robinson, Floyd Mayweather. I don’t care who you say wins, the fact you would say my name in those conversations, I would be very satisfied. That’s my big goal in boxing.”