LAS VEGAS – Brian Norman Jr. readily admits that his first two performances since the undefeated welterweight prospect signed with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. haven’t been especially impressive.

The hard-hitting Norman was touted as a young knockout artist to watch when Arum’s promotional company announced his signing last December. Norman (24-0, 19 KOs, 1 NC) was well known within boxing circles because of his much-discussed sparring sessions with Terence Crawford and others, but he had only fought once on TV.

The Conyers, Georgia resident won his first two fights on Top Rank undercards, but both of those bouts went the eight-round distance. His most recent appearance, a unanimous-decision victory over Mexican veteran Jesus Perez (24-5, 18 KOs), was more competitive than Norman’s handlers anticipated May 13 at Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.

Norman’s fight with Perez led to him having surgery on his damaged right hand in June. The 22-year-old Norman’s ability to use his right hand without restrictions during his recently completed training camp made him confident that he’ll finally be able to show what he can do Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.

Norman is scheduled to fight Quinton Randall, the first undefeated opponent of his five-year pro career, on the Shakur Stevenson-Edwin De Los Santos undercard. ESPN+ will stream the 10-round bout between Norman and Randall (13-0-1, 3 KOs), of Katy, Texas, before the action shifts to ESPN at 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. PT).

“I think it’s the perfect opponent, perfect place, the perfect platform to put it on,” Norman told BoxingScene.com after he and Randall talked trash during a press conference Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena. “He’s 13-0. He believes in his self. This is what I need. I’m an up-and-coming prospect. It’s a test for me, right? This shows do I belong or do I not belong? … This is what I live for. This is what I die for. You know what I’m saying? So, I love it.”

The confident Norman believes this fight with the 33-year-old Randall will be one of the few times in his professional career that he’ll have full use of both his right and left hands. He had surgery to repair a fracture in his left hand a few fights before he injured his right hand during a sparring session in September 2022.

“I keep hearing people say things about my power,” Norman said. “The main thing is it’s not all about power. It’s about settin’ it up. If you hit hard, but you don’t land on the target, that don’t mean nothing. So, not only did the right hand hold me back from, you know, wanting to get in there and actually land a shot, I couldn’t train the right way.

“So, what I would wanna do is I would wanna one-shot you because I know I can’t fight for a long time. Or I would just go left-hand crazy. It was like I didn’t necessarily wanna fight, fight. But now, I can do what I wanna do. I can actually go to war again.”

Jolene Mizzone, Norman’s representative at Fighters First Management, helped convince Norman that he needed to get surgery on his right hand, so that he could start realizing his potential. The results in the gym during recent months made Norman understand that he should’ve undergone the procedure sooner.

“I just want people to know the legend is true,” Norman said. “You know, a lot of people have heard about me in the boxing world. Now it’s time to see it. That’s all I care about.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.