Super middleweight title challenger Andre Dirrell wants to end the year with a bang with an impressive victory in Friday’s IBF title eliminator against Derek Edwards at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada on Showtime.

THE RING’s No. 8-rated 168-pounder, Dirrell (23-1, 16 knockouts) will face Edwards (27-3-1, 14 KOs) in support of a main event featuring RING/WBC champion Adonis Stevenson opposite Dmitry Sukhotsky.

“It’s good to be back,” said Dirrell, 31, who has scored consecutive technical knockouts in the fifth and fourth rounds over Vladine Biosse and Nick Brinson in August and October, respectively. “This is my third fight in five months and before that, I fought three times in the past four years. I’m on a very busy schedule right now and it feels good.”

Dirrell-Edwards serves as an eliminator for the No. 2 spot in the IBF’s rankings behind England’s No. 1-rated James DeGale, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist who is THE RING No. 4-rated 168-pounder.

The IBF’s titleholder, Carl Froch of England, is THE RING’s No. 1-rated super middleweight behind RING champion Andre Ward, as well as its No. 9-rated pound-for-pound fighter.

“I want that rematch with Carl Froch,” said Dirrell, a winner of five consecutive fights, three by knockout. “He’s the IBF champion and a win on Friday will bring me closer to fighting him again and proving that I beat him the first time.”

A switch-hitting 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, Dirrell is returning to Showtime for the first time since appearing in the “Super Six World Boxing Classic” super middleweight tournament in 2010.

Dirrell suffered his lone defeat in his opening tournament bout to then-WBC titleholder Froch by split decision in October 2009.

In his next tournament bout in March 2010, Dirrell won by 11th-round disqualification over Arthur Abraham, currently THE RING’s No. 2-rated 168-pounder as well as the WBO’s beltholder.

“I’m here to do a job and it will get done,” said Dirrell, the older brother of WBC 168-pound titlist Anthony Dirrell.

“I’m just looking forward to the fight. It will put me in a high ranking in the IBF and bring me this much closer to challenging for that title pretty soon. I’m excited to be here…I just can’t wait for the action to start.”

Nicknamed “The Black Lion,” Edwards is 2-3-1 with one knockout in his past six fights. In his last fight in February, Edwards registered a 61-second knockout over previously unbeaten Badou Jack to rebound from last December’s ninth-round stoppage loss to middleweight title challenger Matt Korobov.

“This is definitely the biggest fight of my life. There’s no tomorrow,” said Edwards, 35. “It’s just one night. I need to seize the moment and lay it all out on the line. This is my one big shot.”

ADAM LOPEZ SIGNS WITH GH3 PROMOTIONS

Junior featherweight Adam Lopez (9-0, 4 KOs) of San Antonio, Tex., has signed with GH3 Promotions, the organization announced today.

A six-time national amateur champion, Lopez has scored consecutive stoppage victories over Omar Gonzalez in the first round in July and Leonardo Torres in the fifth round in August.

“I am very happy to sign with GH3 Promotions,” said Lopez, 24, who is trained by former junior lightweight titleholder Carlos Hernandez. “They are an up-and-coming promotional company and they are ready to do big things.”