By and large, Jamaine Ortiz marched into his showdown against Vasiliy Lomachenko as nothing more than cannon fodder. Though the 26-year-old successfully ushered Jamel Herring into retirement one fight prior, he was given essentially no shot at upsetting the Ukrainian star.

Still, despite his long list of naysayers, Ortiz battled Lomachenko on mostly even terms during their October 29th bout. Following 12 hard-fought rounds, a look of jubilation was etched across his face as the highly-ranked contender believed he successfully notched the biggest win of his career.

While he was ultimately proven wrong, Ortiz (16-1-1, 8 KOs) has refused to allow his defeat be the end all be all. With the 135-pound contender anxious to prove that he belongs, he views Shakur Stevenson as the perfect opponent.

Stevenson, a former Olympic silver medalist and two-division world champion, has made it look relatively easy inside the ring. In his latest outing, the 25-year-old budding star pitched a near shutout against Robson Conceicao, winning a wide unanimous decision.

Ortiz, however, isn't intimidated by Stevenson’s impressive offensive and defensive arsenal. In fact, in addition to craving a showdown between them, Ortiz is convinced that he and he alone is the right man to knock Stevenson off his high horse.

“I think he’s a great fighter,” said Ortiz during a recent interview with BoxingScene.com. “I think if there’s anybody who’s gonna beat Shakur, it’s gonna be me. If I don't beat him then I think he’s gonna be dominating for a while.”

Since forfeiting his WBO and WBC 130-pound titles on the scales, Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) openly accepted that his maturing body would be better off at the lightweight limit. Although his 135-pound debut will likely take place in the coming months, Stevenson has set his sights on current undisputed kingpin, Devin Haney.

There is a possibility that Stevenson and Ortiz will collide in a WBC world title eliminator.

In the interim, nevertheless, team Haney is attempting to hammer out a deal that would see him take on Lomachenko in the first half of 2023. While those two battle it out for lightweight supremacy, Ortiz maintains that Stevenson’s representatives should pick up the phone and give him a call.

Though Ortiz is known for his aggressive box-first attack, he knows good and well that a one-dimensional game plan against Stevenson would lead to his downfall. Yet, in the opinion of Ortiz, he’s more than capable of pulling out every trick fathomable in order to secure the victory.

“I feel like styles make fights. Also, the mindset and mentality. I have a lot of different styles. Whoever Jamaine wants to pull out that night.”