The 32-year-old makes the first defense of his Lonsdale title against Richard Riakporhe (19-1, 15 KOs) as part of a busy undercard preceding Tyson Fury's latest comeback against Arslanbek Makhmudov, streamed live on Netflix worldwide this Saturday.

After failed negotiations with Matchroom-backed pair Johnny Fisher (14-1, 12 KOs) and Dave Allen (25-8-2, 20 KOs), Tshikeva will instead face another familiar face in former WBO cruiserweight title challenger Riakporhe.

Rather than engage in tense, drawn out verbal back-and-forths, as he did with Frazer Clarke and David Adeleye last year, the newly-minted beltholder is proudly doing his business in the background within a gym booming with success stories.

Moses Itauma made another statement of his prodigious talent, stopping Jermaine Franklin in five rounds last month, while gymmate Fabio Wardley is just weeks away from a maiden defense of WBO world honors against former IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois.

It's easy to get lost in the noise with potential permutations, sanctioning body orders and looking ahead to an Oleksandr Usyk-less heavyweight landscape but TKV is taking it one step at a time in the sport's glamour division.

"I was already in camp preparing for a March 7 date to headline at the Royal Albert Hall but this was a bigger show, back in my hometown, part of Tyson Fury's return and a lot of eyes on that, the opportunity came and we took it," TKV told The Ring.

"This is heavyweight boxing. I'm the British champion and there are no easy fights at this level or difference in level, Richard is just another opponent," he replied when asked about assessing the skill jump from Clarke to Riakporhe.

In Clarke's own words, as he told The Ring's John Evans, the Olympic bronze medalist has thrice fallen short at domestic level and much like his opponent Justis Huni, Riakporhe has been tested against better opposition.

TKV isn't bothered by the impending challenge, though acknowledges he'll need to be better after fighting through illness and a injury-plagued training camp in November.

"I've always known I can do 12 rounds at a very high pace, it wasn't a surprise to me, moreso that [Clarke's team] let him carry on after the 11th. I know what type of engine I have, was ill and still able to throw shots, it's what I do and people who spar me know just how good I am."

Until recently, TKV's best exploits were word-of-mouth on the grapevine discussing how well he acquitted himself in sparring against world-level operators. Win this well and he'll have a genuine claim to be among them.

"It's a good feeling to beat someone everyone expected me to lose to," he said. "I beat Frazer at 50 percent, would've done proper damage to him at 100 percent but whoever still dismisses me, just wait and see what's next."

Riakporhe and Clarke once shared a trainer in Angel Fernandez, who led the former out to his unsuccessful title bid in a Chris Billam-Smith rematch two summers ago.

Many were left underwhelmed by the performance, lacking a plan B and following a near year-long layoff, Riakporhe returned in Riyadh last May to blast past Kevin Nicolas Espindola in an encouraging heavyweight debut.

Tommy Welch delivered some home truths of Riakporhe pre-fight, who made quick work of the ambitious 30-year-old on the Eubank-Benn II undercard in November, before calling for domestic duels having settled at the weight.

"You should have that adaptability, naturally changing it up subconsciously, but sometimes it's what you're doing in training," TKV said. "If you don't have the right person in your corner, they won't realise [it's going wrong] until it's too late. Billy Nelson is a good trainer, I've known him, Martin Bakole and them guys for a while, I know he's got a good camp and great team behind him."

Whether it was an issue squeezing his 6-foot-5 frame down to 200 pounds, undisclosed injuries, issues behind-the-scenes or otherwise, Riakporhe failed to shine in a career-changing opportunity. TKV believes he'll spoil the 35-year-old's divisional assault, armed with secret weapon Barry Smith in the corner.

"Barry is the unsung hero, without him, I wouldn't be British champion," he stresses.

"I have to big him up every time, he spends a lot of time on me teaching things I was unaware of, he's always keeping me on point and not slacking, trains me as hard as he can, a very good trainer and special man in my life. He's the reason I'm British champion."

Having weighed in at a career-heaviest 265 pounds last time out, Riakporhe will relish the opportunity to pick TKV off at range and enjoy utilising his athletic gifts if given the opportunity against a slow target.

"I'm coming there to get the job done," TKV says. "We'll see [about the weight] but that doesn't matter much if I don't get my gameplan right."