Herny Lundy (L) dropped a split decision to Thomas Dulorme in his last bout on Dec. 6, 2014. Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

After nine years as a professional boxer, Henry Lundy has had enough ups-and-downs to fill several careers. Once a touted prospect, the 31-year-old Lundy has seen his momentum halted by upset losses, recovered to establish himself as a lightweight contender and repeated the cycle.

All the while, he has maintained the self-confidence (some consider it arrogance) that enables him to effortlessly refer to himself in the third person without a second thought.

Much of that bravado comes from the boxing tradition in his hometown of Philadelphia, where the only ones who make it out of the gyms are the toughest of the tough, men who are battle-tested away from the cameras and lights beyond anything the average person can understand.

Or maybe it comes from the same source of determination that enabled the 5-foot-7 high school multi-position football player to excel enough to earn a partial scholarship to Kutztown University, and then pass on it so his aunt could pay for his younger sister’s education instead.

“I would find another way,” he told her.

Through it all, Lundy remains a political move or two from receiving a title opportunity and will help his case significantly if he can defeat Petr Petrov at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y. The fight is a 10-round co-feature of this week’s ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights.”

Lundy (25-4-1, 12 knockouts) is just one month removed from a split-decision loss to Thomas Dulorme on Dec. 6, where he was dropped in Round 1 of their junior welterweight bout before rallying to make a fight out of it.

Now stepping down five pounds where he’s still the WBC’s No. 4 contender, Lundy faces a Joel Diaz-trained Russian in Petrov (35-4-2, 17 KOs) who made his name in America last May when he stopped Fernando Carcamo to win the 2014 ESPN Boxcino Lightweight tournament.

“[Petrov] did a good job, he did what he’s supposed to do,” Lundy, who is more commonly called Hank, tells RingTV.com. “Those guys were inexperienced but at the end of the day he got the job done. This is a big step up; this is definitely a different ball game. You’re coming to fight Hammerin’ Hank Lundy.”

Lundy remained unbeaten 19 fights into his pro career, which includes a decision win over current WBA lightweight titleholder Richar Abril. Lundy suffered his first loss in 2010 when he was stopped in the 11^th round by John Molina before running a four-fight win streak highlighted by a one-punch knockout of former WBC lightweight titleholder David Diaz.

Lundy then dropped back-to-back decisions against Raymundo Beltran and Viktor Postol before winning three straight heading into the Dulorme bout.

It’s been a rocky run for Lundy, who is signed by New England-based promoter CES Boxing and recently won a court case against former manager Ivan Cohen that upheld his signing with manager/hip hop mogul James Prince.

But to take away the hardship would be to take away the lessons learned, he feels.

“I should’ve been a champion a long time ago. I have wins over champions and former champs,” says Lundy. “I have no big-time promoters; I just got signed with a big-time manager so everything is on the up and up. I didn’t have what some of these guys have had, home cooking. They ain’t really fought nobody.

“At the end of the day, I love my career, I love how my career went about. I don’t take nothing for granted and it made Hammerin’ Hank who he is today.”

For this bout, Lundy promises a “different look and different flavor” as he reunites with trainer Charles Ramey, who guided him through the amateurs and through his first 15 fights.

In the opposite corner, Petrov has fought most of his career in Spain, losing a 2011 WBA junior welterweight title fight against Marcos Maidana in four rounds in his biggest fight to date.

Lundy took the fight just a few weeks ago but had already been in training for a Jan. 31 bout that fell through. Lundy has never passed on a chance to gain attention though, and he’ll likely do whatever he can to make viewers remember his performance, win or lose.

“I live in the gym so I wanted to get back in the ring to show the world that last fight wasn’t the real Hammerin’ Hank,” Lundy says. “Here we are with this fight and I’m ready to put on a show.”

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.