The Ring’s No. 4-ranked lightweight and WBO champion watched Zepeda closely as the Mexican won a lopsided decision over Lamont Roach to capture the WBC 135-pound title Saturday in Las Vegas.

Naturally, the two have been linked with each other. Although Mason is just 22 years old, a fight against Zepeda (34-1, 27 KOs) isn’t something he’s shying away from.

When it comes to confidence, Mason (21-0, 18 KOs) has plenty of it. But he knows Zepeda, The Ring’s No. 3-ranked 135-pounder, would represent a tough fight.

“That would be a career-defining fight for me at this point,” Mason admitted on The Porterway Podcast. “He has everything that somebody would wanna see me face. He’s strong on the front foot, a volume puncher, he’s using his head. It would definitely be a step up from any fight that I ever had before.”

Zepeda, who was a slight underdog heading in to his fight with Roach, used those attributes and then some in victory.

While Roach was impressive, Mason believes his own track record speaks for itself.

In November, Mason won an all-out war against Sam Noakes to win the then-vacant WBO title. In his first defense on July 4, he showed grit and late fight-ending power against Albert Bell, dropping and stopping him in the 12th round.

And now Mason wants to show the world how great he truly is against someone as talented as Zepeda.

“The Sam Noakes fight was a crazy fight, an amazing fight,” Mason continued. “I’ve grown from all my past fights so me being able to implement everything that I’ve learned, it will show where I’m at in the sport facing Zepeda who’s coming off a great win.”