If Steven Sumpter walked into his local grocery store, he wouldn’t get bombarded by media members and fans.

The 31-year-old from Lawrence, Massachusetts, expects that to change if he's able to defeat Bek Nurmaganbet on Sept. 10 at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

“This win will get me a bunch of fans and wake everybody up,” Sumpter told The Ring. “I need this win to prove to the world who I am.”

Sumpter (11-1-1, 9 KOs) was in a tough position roughly a year ago. In what was supposed to be a routine win in March of last year, he settled for a majority draw against Antonio Louis Hernandez, a 7-18-2 fighter. A few months later, the fringe super middleweight contender was outclassed by Najee Lopez in a decision loss.

Since then, Sumpter has gotten back on track, winning two straight by knockout. Those victories, however, haven’t raised his stock as much as he would like, putting even more emphasis on what he does in September.

Nurmaganbet (14-0, 12 KOs) doesn’t have the biggest profile in the world, but he does bring to the table a perfect record and a KO streak that reached 10 fights with his first-round stoppage over Encarnacion Diaz in April.

Sumpter doesn’t like asking for anything, but he knows how good Nurmaganbet is. So as long as everything goes the way he envisions, the first thing he’ll be asking for is his respect.

“He’s probably the best fighter I've faced so far,” Sumpter said. “But that makes it even better. So when I beat him, I need all of my credit.”