Junior middleweight contender John Vera can change the course of a fight with one punch but he has also demonstrated that he can overcome challenges in his last two fights.

Vera’s path toward a world title belt continues tonight as he squares off against Sunday Ajuwa at Gilley’s in Dallas, Texas. The eight-round bout will air live on beIN Sports (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).

Vera (17-0, 10 knockouts) will be fighting for the first time near his hometown of Fort Worth in over a year-and-a-half. Most of Vera’s recent fights have taken place in Las Vegas and Arizona.

In his most recent bout on July 15, Vera won a hard-fought 10-round majority decision over hard-hitting Daniel Rosario Cruz. Earlier this year, Vera won a split decision over Salim Larbi.

The two close decision victories snapped a streak of three consecutive knockout victories, all of which occurred in 2016.

The 29-year-old Vera will face tougher tests as he attempts to climb the junior middleweight rankings. He is currently ranked No. 7 by the WBA.

Vera could make a statement tonight with an impressive win over Ajuwa, who will give up four inches in height to Vera.

Ajuwa (13-2, 10 KOs) will be fighting for only the second time outside his native Nigeria. In his most recent bout, on April 2, Ajuwa stopped debuting Franck Jebovi in the opening round.

Only three of Ajuwa’s opponents had winning records when they squared off.

In the co-feature, light heavyweight Adrian Taylor (4-0, 3 KOs) will face Ronald Mixon (8-1, 7 KOs) in a six-round bout.

Opening the beIN Sports telecast will be a four-round bout between heavyweights Ivan Dychko of Kazakhstan and Abur Wright (2-1, 1 KO).

In an off-TV bout, 17-year-old Gabriel Flores Jr. (3-0, 2 KOs) will square off against Donnie Reeves (1-0, 1 KO) in a four-round junior lightweight bout.