Regis Prograis has a ton of hype surrounding. He’ll soon have a chance to prove he’s worth of it.

The explosive boxer-puncher is set to step up to the elite level with a March 9 fight against former junior welterweight titleholder Viktor Postol. The fight is set to headline a Showtime card from Deadwood, South Dakota, and it’s the rare meaningful fight that takes place on a Friday.

“I feel I’m one of the best junior welterweights in the world and this is my chance to display my belief in myself,” said Prograis, THE RING’s No. 4 junior welterweight. “I’m very excited to be fighting Viktor Postol – he’s a very experienced fighter that previously held the WBC world title.”

Prograis (20-0, 17 knockouts) has shined in a series of fights on Showtime’s prospect series, ShoBox: The New Generation. He needed just two rounds to blast out Joel Diaz Jr., who entered the fight undefeated and also with a lot of buzz around him.

The 29-year-old New Orleans native used non-stop pressure, excellent upper-body movement and his vaunted power to score four knockdowns, and it’s those very traits that have him positioned well heading into the bout with Postol (29-1, 12 KOs).

The 34-year-old Ukrainian presents a formidable challenge, though. He’s tall, lanky, possesses an educated jab and can really punch, too. His knockout of Selcuk Aydin in his HBO debut was sensational. He followed that up with a stoppage of Lucas Matthysse to win the WBC title and fractured the Argentine’s orbital bone in the fight.

If Prograis wants to reach his lofty goals, he’ll have to upend Postol, THE RING’s No. 2 rated 140-pounder.

“I want to become a world champion this year, and I know Viktor Postol wants to reclaim his title, but we have to go through each other first,” he said. “This is a great fight for boxing because you have two hungry fighters. It’s a can’t-miss fight.”

Mike Coppinger is the Senior Writer for RingTV.com. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeCoppinger