Pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr will attempt to secure the 46th successive win of his professional career on Saturday evening when he faces Marcos Maidana for the WBA super and WBC welterweight titles in Las Vegas.
Also on the card, Amir Khan will attempt to put himself in contention for a future shot at the American when he goes up against the dangerous Luis Collazo, while Adrien Broner will hope to get back to winning ways when he meets Carlos Molina.
Below, Sports Mole assesses the three main fights of the evening, while also taking a look at the undercard at the MGM Grand.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Marcos Maidana
Mayweather was expected to face the toughest test of his career against Saul Alvarez in September, but in a contest that failed to live up to its billing, the five-division world champion eased to a points success over the previously-unbeaten Mexican.
© Getty Images
The victory left an array of fighters vying to be Mayweather's next opponent, and after the contenders were whittled down to Maidana and Khan, Mayweather and his team decided to reward the Argentine's win over Broner by handing him the lucrative spot in the main event in Nevada.
Due to Maidana's perceived one-dimensional style, it was a decision that brought criticism from a few quarters, with many anticipating that Mayweather will find it easy to pick off his attack-minded opponent and record a 12-round triumph.
It's fair to assume that Maidana will not be tempted to change the bustling style that was so effective against Broner in December, but while it exposed a man who had been likened to the best boxer of a generation, it also gave Mayweather the blueprint in which to take advantage of the 30-year-old on Saturday night.
Maidana's success against Broner mainly came from disguising a powerful left hook that landed at will, but it's a tactic that is unlikely to work against the best defensive boxer in the sport, and while Maidana has a puncher's chance against Mayweather, his will to win could be tested unless he finds success in the opening half of the fight.
2. Amir Khan vs. Luis Collazo
After recording an unconvincing win over Julio Diaz last April, it's been a quiet 12 months for Khan, who, after rejecting the chance to face Devon Alexander in December, missed out on an opportunity to face Mayweather.
However, after being handed a spot as the chief support to Mayweather's contest with Maidana, Khan has the ideal chance to make a positive statement to the Mayweather camp to try to entice them into a match later in 2014.
The Bolton fighter won't have it all his own way against Collazo, though. It's been eight years since the American was edged out by Ricky Hatton, but the 33-year-old is coming off the back of a second-round stoppage of Victor Ortiz and will enter Saturday's encounter full of confidence.
Collazo brings a rough-house style to the fight, and Khan has rightly been advised not to get embroiled into a war with his opponent, but meeting attack with attack has been the Brit's downfall in the past and he will need to box cleverly if he is to avoid a third defeat in five outings.
Khan has spoken of his extra power after moving up to welterweight, but he will also be met with harder blows from Collazo. The former Olympic silver medallist has the ability to come through Saturday's fight, but like with any Khan fight, don't expect it to be one-way traffic.
3. Adrien Broner vs. Carlos Molina
Before facing Maidana at the end of last year, the career of Broner was predicted to take a similar course to that of Mayweather, but his crushing defeat in Texas humbled the brash American and sent him back to the drawing board.
© Getty Images
It was a wake-up call for the 24-year-old who had coasted through his first 26 bouts, but his movement in weight class showed signs of affecting his performance when he could only edge past Paulie Malignaggi by split decision in June.
Broner has moved back down to light welterweight, a weight that he should be more accustomed to rather than life at 147lbs, but he has been given a routine bout in preparation for sterner tests later this year.
Molina is regarded as a light-punching fighter whose only appearance at elite level saw him pummelled by Khan over 10 rounds in 2012, and it would come as no surprise if Broner saw off his opponent inside the first half of the fight.
It's sensible matchmaking by Broner's promoters, but we are unlikely to find anything new about the American in a contest that is likely to be one-sided from the first bell.
Undercard
As well as Khan, two more Brits will be competing in Las Vegas on Saturday, with Anthony Ogogo and Ashley Theoplane hoping to improve their respective career records with wins on the Stateside bill.
Ogogo, an Olympic bronze medallist from London 2012, has seen injury disrupt the start of his development in the professional ranks, but he will hope to record his sixth victory when he meets Puerto Rican boxer Jonel Tapia.
Welterweight Theoplane has spent a considerable part of his career competing in the United States, and after losing Pablo Cesar Cano on the undercard of Mayweather's win over Alvarez, he will be keen to mark his second appearance at the MGM Grand with a triumph over Angino Perez.
Elsewhere on the card, undefeated super-middleweight J'Leon Love will look to record his 18th successive success when he faces Marco Antonio Periban, who failed to win either of his high-profile fights with Sakio Bika and Badou Jack in 2013.
