In April, McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) proved himself to be a genuine threat at world level when he dropped and outpointed highly respected former junior middleweight champion Liam Smith on the undercard of the epic first fight between Chris Eubank and Conor Benn.

It was the type of performance that should have catapulted The Ring's No. 7 middleweight directly into another major fight, but instead the 26-year-old Irishman found himself consigned to the sidelines.

Unified IBF and WBO titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly defended his titles once in 2025 before being pulled from a December title unification against WBA beltholder Erislandy Lara after testing positive for the banned substance Meldonium.

Lara successfully defended his belt against late substitute Johan Gonzalez in his only appearance of the year.

Saturday, the similarly inactive Carlos Adames will defend his WBC title against Austin "Ammo" Williams on "The Ring 6" at Madison Square Garden in New York.

That fight promises to be an entertaining clash of styles, but one of boxing's classic weight divisions needs a major shot in the arm.

Late last year, McKenna and his brother, exciting junior middleweight Stevie (15-1, 13 KOs), signed management deals with Teofimo Lopez's co-manager Mike Borao.

The new link up has already started opening new avenues and connections and McKenna has renewed hope.

"We almost got the Adames fight for January 31. In fact, I've stayed sharp in case anything happened to Williams," McKenna told The Ring.

"It's a shame because I think the Irish really would have shown up to NYC to support me, plus Turki Alalshikh and The Ring put an amazing card together in New York that I would have loved to be a part of.

"My manager and my dad have been hearing from all the big promoters, that's the exciting part. The next stage of my career is really important so we haven't jumped at any offer yet, except the world title opportunity against Adames. We were all over that, but everything happens for a reason and my time will come soon enough."

McKenna isn't limiting his chances of securing a major fight by targeting one champion or concentrating on one particular belt.

All four major governing bodies have him inside the top 10 of their middleweight rankings, but he is also willing to step up to super middleweight to get his foot in the door.

"I am looking to challenge for a world title anywhere between 160 and 168 pounds. Adames, Lara, even [WBA super middleweight champion] Jose Resendiz. Something will materialize," he said.

"I am highly rated in the IBF, so may get an opportunity there. No matter what, 2026 is going to be my year."