Devon Alexander has had a somewhat uneven career where his potential hasn’t quite matched his output. At times, he’s been remarkably impressive, as he’s posted wins against the likes of Marcos Maidana and Lucas Matthysse. However, losses against Shawn Porter, Timothy Bradley and his most recent loss being a one-sided decision to Amir Khan have had people questioning whether or not he has the goods to compete against the elite.

Tonight, Alexander (26-3, 14 knockouts) will step into the ring for the first time since dropping that lopsided decision to Khan when he faces Aron Martinez (19-4-1) as the headliner of a PBC on ESPN card in Arizona. Martinez is coming off of a tough-luck loss of his own when he pushed Robert Guerrero to the limit before dropping a highly disputed decision.

“Guerrero was coming off a big loss against Thurman and I don’t think he thought it would be that tough as it was,” Alexander said to RingTV about the fight that saw Martinez drop Guerrero in the fourth round and nearly pull off the major upset. “A lot of people thought Aron won and put up a good fight. Guerrero wasn’t as in shape as he was in previous fight and it made Martinez look good. He was coming off a big loss and wasn’t ready.”

Alexander promises not to take Martinez lightly and let the hungry fighter sneak up on him.

“You gotta take every fight serious,” Alexander said. “I approach it like he’s taking food out of mine and my mother’s mouth. I’m coming off a huge upset in my last fight and I definitely want to show people that I’m back and better than ever.”

Alexander is aware of his unbalanced success and openly discussed what he feels went wrong.

“Any loss is hard because I’m used to winning and enjoying the fruits of my labor,” the St. Louis product said while waving off the notion that the loss to Khan was any different than his previous defeats. “I wasn’t mentally there in all of my losses. Mental is more important than physical. I have to work on that and being in the fight and focusing on my game plan. In my losses I got away from that and thinking about other things.”

Alexander is aware that the landscape of the welterweight division is wide open with the retirement of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao suggesting that his next fight will be his last. At the age of 28, Alexander “The Great” believes that he can ascend the ladder to the top by impressing against Martinez and going on a self-proclaimed revenge tour.

“I would definitely love those fights back because there were things I could have exploited and I want those opportunities,” Alexander says while noting that Porter and Bradley employ a “football style” that he believes he’s figured out and saying that the Khan fight was one where he was simply flat.

“After I get back on top I want to go on a revenge tour,” he says but isn’t opposed to facing any of the top 147 pounders moving forward. “I’ve always been a throwback fighter who will fight anybody they put in front of me. I believe in my skills and can beat anybody in front of me as long as I’m 100 percent focused.”