Up-and-coming super middleweight Moreno Fendero will return to action on Thursday night when he faces Mykola Vovk at the Monreal Casino, Montreal.

The 25-year-old French-born fighter, who moved to Montreal to link up with Eye of The Tiger nearly two-years ago, will be taking part in his second 8-round contest and feels the longer distance suits him more.

"I will fight with a good opponent, I am ready for a big opportunity," Fendero (9-0, 7 knockouts) told The Ring with the help of Jordan Mathieu.

"With 8-rounds, I have time to set up some things and I am better at 8-rounds. The longer the fight goes, I get better."

Fendero entered the professional ranks on the back of an extensive amateur career that saw him win bronze at the 2023 World Championships.

His early professional fights were at middleweight. However, alongside his team, they decided to move him up to super middleweight which appears to have bolstered him further.

"I feel stronger at this weight," he said. "In the future, all the people are going to see how good I am at this weight."

He's further helped by being around the likes of Erik Bazinyan and Christian Mbilli at Marc Ramsay's gym. Training and sparring those two elite super middleweights has helped Fendero progress.

"The better fighters I am with make me better," he said. "All these people have a good discipline, and I am following them and obligated to do this too."

Fendero is by nature a quite person, who lets his fists do the talking, but he feels that soon enough people will be talking about him.

"The crowd is going to like me a little bit more because they'll know me more as I fight more often," he said.

Camille Estephan of Eye of The Tiger has witnessed Fendero settle into the pro ranks and feels the best is yet to come.

"I think the last two or three fights, he's got the knockout of the night, he has real power - devastating," said Estephan. "He has the background as an athlete, French national team, he won a medal at the World's. He's a solider, he has unbelievable ethics and discipline."

Vovk (15-6, 9 KOs) turned professional in 2015. The 34-year-old Ukrainian-born German resident has fought in around Europe in Hungary, Poland, Czechia, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.

He's usually been durable and only been stopped twice and on both occasions, it came later in the fight against Faton Vukushinaj (TKO 8) and Lukasz Wierzbicki (KO 9).

Asanou-Patera, plus undercard bouts, will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET/ 3:30 p.m. PT