Rising lightweight star Teofimo Lopez (12-0, 10 KOs) will be looking to do a lot of damage when he faces Edis Tatli on the April 20 undercard of the Terence Crawford-Amir Khan ESPN Pay-Per-View from Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The goal for Lopez is to secure a showdown, by the end of the year, with WBO, WBA world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.

The two boxers are both promoted by Top Rank, which makes an agreement that much easier to reach.

There are some experts who believe Lopez is biting off a lot more than he can chew by pursuing a fight with Lomachenko, who many regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.

Some observers believe Lopez needs more experience.

Lopez disagrees.

“Of course I’m ready, I believe that I am a world champion I just don’t have the belt yet,” Lopez told Boxing News. "Absolutely. I think the thing is that people put too many fighters on a pedestal too high.

“When it comes to beating him, when we fight, I’ll show everyone what it is, how to beat this guy. He’s been beaten before so why can’t I beat him again?”

Provided that everything goes as planned against Tatli, Lopez is planning to go for a world title and then wants Lomachenko before the year is out.

“I’ve got this fight first to show everybody again,” Lopez said. “I believe hopefully after this fight, it could be against Richard Commey [the IBF champion], it could be against Mikey Garcia [who still holds the WBC lightweight belt]. I think they’re going to wait till the end of the year for me and Lomachenko to fight. It’s just having faith and all that I’ve been doing and all that I’ve been through and stuff like that is leading me to this path, leading me to the glory.

“Some love me, a lot hate me, they’re going to take it as it is. They’re going to take it how they want to take it. That’s how I am. I’m ruthless, I’m very ruthless, I don’t have feelings for no man when I’m in that ring. I don’t care about anything in that moment. That’s just how I am. I don’t feel no sympathy, no nothing for no man.”