Brian Norman Jnr may already have a welterweight championship around his waist, but he admits he still feels like something is missing. Perhaps it’s because he has yet to be announced as the full WBO champion, having only been elevated from interim champion last August, three months after his sensational knockout of Giovani Santillan to win a claim to the belt.

Or maybe it’s because the belt is a means to an end, his ticket to the dance to prove true greatness. Whatever it is, Norman is still seeking something that he doesn’t yet know how to quantify.

“When I got [the championship], even though I raised my hand, I wasn’t satisfied. There was still something missing out there. My mentality is to find out whatever that is and then we’ll see what’s next. I still don’t know what that missing feeling is but I gotta knock a whole bunch of heads off and keep killing myself in the gym until I find out what it is,” Norman, 26-0 (20 KOs) tells BoxingScene.

Norman will look to take that next step of discovery on Saturday night, when he makes his first title defense against Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, live on ESPN.

Cuevas, 27-1-1 (19 KOs), of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico is a name that Norman has had on his mind for some time. The two were supposed to fight last November, but an injury to Norman’s left hand - which he sustained delivering the knockout punch to Santillan - required that he take some additional time off. Instead of becoming complacent, Norman remained in the gym, punching with just one hand until the other was healed.

He knows the mindset that Cuevas brings to the ring, because it’s the same one he brought to the ring against Santillan.

“He is a very tough fighter, he’s coming to change his life. I know what that feeling is, when all you have to do is win that one fight and my whole life is changed and everything is switched over, just that quick,” said Norman, a native of Decatur, Georgia who still lives and trains in “The Peach State.”

“He’s coming to knock my head off. I’m pretty sure that’s his whole goal. I think it’ll be a pretty good fight but I don’t think it’ll be a long one.”

Cuevas, 30, has won straight fights since his lone defeat, a split decision to Damian Bonelli back in 2020, though the most notable win during that streak came against former junior welterweight contender Alberto Mosquera, who was stopped on an injury.

After Norman won his belt, his manager, Jolene Mizzone, helped put his new challenge into perspective, sharing something she had learned from the great Pernell Whitaker: “It’s easy to win a world title; it’s harder to keep it.” Norman understood the task, and how his mindset could help him reach new levels in the sport.

“You gotta be a champion before you are the champion. Now that I am a champion, I’ve gotta be a legend. You gotta be a legend before you are a legend, and that’s my whole goal into this fight and the rest of my career,” said Norman.

In order to be seen in that air, Norman knows he’ll have to knock off bigger game in the future. That’s where Mizzone comes in.

“We don’t like to look ahead of this fight but as his manager I have to. His legacy will be cemented in time but the first step is to get past Cuevas and then he wants to unify the 147lbs division,” said Mizzone.

“We know who the champions are. [WBC welterweight titleholder] Barrios doesn’t have a dance partner as of now, [IBF titlist Jaron Ennis] is fighting [WBA titleholder Eimantas] Stanionis so we’ll see what happens after April 12.”

For Norman, his priority would be a fight with Barrios, as he sees the WBC belt as something he’d like to add to his collection. 

First, Norman has to handle business against a fighter who has nothing to lose and everything to gain. 

“He gotta beat the champion, he can’t just think he can win on the cards, he’s gotta go in and dominate the champion. I’m pretty sure that’s his whole game plan and he’s coming with everything he got,” said Norman.

“But me as the champion, I’ve gotta humble him and show him where he belongs.”

 

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.