LAS VEGAS – If Ernesto “Tito” Mercado’s performance in the ring Saturday night mirrors promises he made to Terence Crawford’s stablemates during a press conference Thursday, Jose Pedraza probably should stay in his hotel room.

The heavy-handed Mercado (16-0, 15 KOs) will make his delayed debut for Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing when he opposes Puerto Rico’s Pedraza (29-6-1, 14 KOs) on the Diego Pacheco-Steven Nelson undercard at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The underexposed knockout artist was supposed to box on the Jaron Ennis-Karen Chukhadzhian undercard November 9 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, but the intriguing junior welterweight’s opponent, Mexican southpaw Jesus Saracho (14-2-1, 11 KOs), was so overweight he never set foot on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission’s scale November 8.

Two-and-a-half months later, a determined Mercado, 23, will encounter a 35-year-old Pedraza in the opener of DAZN’s three-fight stream from The Chelsea, a ballroom inside The Cosmopolitan. DAZN’s coverage of the Diego Pacheco-Steven Nelson undercard is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET; 1 a.m. GMT in the United Kingdom).

“I feel like this is gonna be the fight of the night,” Mercado said. “You know, like I said, regardless, he got experience, but he don’t know what he’s talking about, man. Every time he stepped up and fought good fighters, he couldn’t press the trigger. I’mma go there and do the same thing. I’mma show that. I’mma beat him up in a better way than Keyshawn [Davis] did, and I’mma show y’all what’s up. And if [Davis] got a problem with it, tell him to sign the contract. Sign the contract.”

Mercado, who wants “all the smoke,” competes in the weight class above Davis and Shakur Stevenson, both of whom are close to Crawford. He nevertheless predicted Thursday that he would knock out Davis (12-0, 8 KOs, 1 NC), the WBO’s number one lightweight contender, and Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs), the WBC lightweight champion, if given the opportunity.

Fighting mostly in obscurity over the past 3½ years has hurt Mercado’s cause. He nevertheless intends to ruthlessly introduce himself to boxing fans who aren’t familiar with him.

“Man, this ain’t no step up,” Mercado said. “That peanut head [Pedraza] don’t know what he’s talking about. I’mma go over there and knock out this [punk]. And then after that, I’mma call out the names I been wanting. You know, Shakur, I’m sure you around here somewhere. If not, I’ll see his chipmunk-head ass somewhere around here on Saturday night. But if not, man, Shakur, Keyshawn. If not, Keyshawn’s daddy [Crawford] could get it, too. It don’t matter to me, to be honest with you. But, you know, Saturday night I’mma go over there, do my thing and put this guy out, the way I should.”

The past-his-prime Pedraza is 0-3-1 in his past four fights and will end almost a one-year layoff. The former IBF junior lightweight and WBO lightweight champ hasn’t boxed since last February 8, when Davis stopped him in the sixth round at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

“What I’d say is this might be a step up for ‘Tito,’ but it’s not a step up for me,” Pedraza said. “Each step up that I’ve had in my career, I’ve gone through and I’ve managed to complete them. You know, what my goal is now is to go on and end my career and to become a three-time world champion in three different weight classes.”