Featherweight Troy Nash Jnr will be aiming to display his boxing ability after a series of tough bouts to start his career.

Nash will face Bryan Rodriguez in an eight-round bout Sunday at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

Nash, 6-0-1 (1 KO), has jumped into top competition quickly: He has already fought six undefeated fighters in seven pro fights. The 20-year-old Nash turned heads with his performance at the WBC Grand Prix tournament, where he defeated unbeaten prospects ​​Alexander Kovrigin and Zholdas Zhengissov, and fought Muhamet Qamili to a draw in the quarterfinals (where the advanced scoring system served as a tiebreaker, favoring Qamili).

In January, Nash fought Jaycob Ramos on a Zuffa Boxing card. He won a unanimous decision, but the fight was grueling. Ramos has since fought Ethan Perez to a draw in March. Troy Nash Snr, the trainer and father of the younger Nash, wants his son to get back to the basics and display fundamental boxing.

“I want him to have a performance that they could hang in a museum,” Nash Snr told BoxingScene. “The goal is nothing short of a masterpiece.”

Nash Jnr held his camp in Las Vegas, away from his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The idea was to surround him with different elite fighters. The team wanted Nash outside of his comfort zone while sparring with different styles to prepare him for his upcoming bout. 

“The plan is for him not to get hit with a hard shot in this fight,” Nash Snr said. “This is going to be a display of brilliant boxing.”

Rodriguez, 8-1 (1 KO), is coming off a unanimous decision win over unbeaten Daniel Cortez in November. Before that fight, the 19-year-old Rodirguez was upset by journeyman Oziel Rangel Aradillas. Rodriguez, of Donna, Texas, will be fighting for the first time on a Zuffa card, whereas Nash was the opening bout of Zuffa Boxing’s inaugural Paramount+ telecast in January.

“The goal is to show out, and show his ability,” Nash Snr said. “We have had a perfect camp; now we just need a perfect performance.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.