How a fighter responds in the face of adversity is often the determining factor in whether they can reach the pinnacle of boxing.

Justin Pauldo found himself on the wrong end of a narrow 10-round split decision loss to Miguel Madueno in February 2024. While Madueno landed fights against Keyshawn Davis and Oscar Duarte after victory, Pauldo returned to the proving grounds that is ProBox nearly one year after defeat to face former IBF junior lightweight champion Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov.

Consecutive losses would have been detrimental to Pauldo's career and his aspirations of one day earning a world title shot. Backed against the wall, the 30-year-old put the lessons he learned against Madueno to use and delivered his most impressive showing, pummeling Rakhimov and dropping him twice en route to an eighth-round stoppage on Feb. 8 in San Antonio, Texas.

"So far that has been my best performance, being that it was a former world champion and he was highly touted coming into the fight," Pauldo told The Ring. "I was looked at as the underdog, went out there and beat him in spectacular fashion."

"I think I won the fight, but it was also a great learning experience for me to know that you don't leave any rounds close," Pauldo said of the lessons learned from his Madueno defeat.

"Never let off the gas and always go the extra mile, because you never know what the judges might be looking at or how they're viewing the fight. The main thing is to always stay on the gas in there, win each fight and each round in dominant fashion."

Four months after his career-best evening in the same venue, Pauldo (18-2, 9 KOs) will return to San Antonio's Boeing Center on Saturday to face Juan Carlos Burgos in a 10-round lightweight bout, this time as the headliner for another ProBox card at 5 p.m. ET.

Burgos is a well-traveled veteran of 47 fights, who has never been knocked out and proven himself a litmus test for many ascending contenders.

Six of Burgos' (36-8-3, 22 KOs) eight losses have come against undefeated fighters, including Davis, who is the current WBO lightweight champion, former undisputed lightweight and WBC junior welterweight titlist Devin Haney and retired four-division world champion Mikey Garcia. Burgos, 37, also lost to Andy Cruz, a Cuban Olympic gold medalist and ascending lightweight contender, in his pro debut.

"I gotta bring my A-game," Pauldo said. "I know he's got a lot of experience. He's seen a lot, so I've got to be at my best and be smart."

Pauldo's win over Rakhimov helped land him in the WBC and WBO’s rankings at lightweight, putting him in proximity of a title shot if he can nab a couple more impressive wins. Entering Saturday, he's ranked No. 12 by the WBO and No. 14 by the WBC, with that title held by Shakur Stevenson.

Pauldo believes that as the competition rises, he'll continue to deliver and eventually earn his shot against the best of the best at 135-pounds.

"I want the top guys in the division," Pauldo said. "I just haven't had the big stage to show it yet. It's coming, and as long as I keep putting on these impressive victories, I think the fans, the people, the media and everybody will start to demand me to step in the ring with the other big names in the division."

But if he's going to earn a title shot in the near future, Pauldo knows he’ll have to handle business on Saturday and beyond and continue to prove he belongs among the upper echelon in an elite divisional class each time he steps into the ring.

"I’d love to step into the ring within the next 12 or 18 months and become a world champion," Pauldo said. "But at this point right now, I need to focus on what's in front of me, win each fight because that's the most important fight to get to the world title."