Should he get past Duarte, though, the Brooklyn, New York, native has his sights set on the rest of the champions at 140 pounds and some of the top names at welterweight.

“Unification or going up to 147 is another option and competing for a title up there,“ Hitchins told The Ring on Wednesday. “The options vary, so we’ll see what happens.”

Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) faces Duarte in the co-featured bout on “The Ring: High Stakes” card Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on DAZN PPV. WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) faces Ryan Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs, 1 NC) in the main event.

Also on the card is WBA champion Gary Antuanne Russell making the first defense of his title against Japan’s Andy Hiraoka (24-0, 19 KOs). Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) and Hitchins climbed the amateur ranks together before becoming world champions.

“I always knew that that matchup would come to fruition one day,” Hitchins said. “We were always the cream of the crop. Even back then, as kids and now as professionals and grown men, we're still here at the top, still at the world level. It's just destined.”

Hitchins also mentioned a potential bout against Keyshawn Davis (14-0, 10 KOs, 1 NC), a former WBO 135-pound champ who debuted at 140 on January 31 and stopped Jamaine Ortiz in the 12th round.

“Great fight,“ Hitchins said of facing Davis. “I think it'll be even a bigger fight if he gets a world championship, but if not, we're still down to do it because it’s a big fight on its own.”

Of course, any hopes of landing a big fight next depends on him getting past Duarte (30-2-1, 23 KOs). Hitchins enters the clash off an eighth-round knockout of former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos.

Hitchins’ path to becoming a world champion included beating Gustavo Lemos by unanimous decision in an IBF title eliminator in 2024. That experience against a relentless pressure fighter like Lemos is one that Hitchins said proved invaluable in terms of how to handle his conditioning and the IBF’s 10-pound rehydration clause.

“I gained a lot of experience in that fight, especially with the way I rehydrated in the fight with Gustavo Lemos,” Hitchins said. “It showed me that rehydrating the wrong way can almost cost you a fight, and I think that fight was way closer than it should have been. I made it look way closer than it should have been because of my fatigue in the ring. Saturday night, I'm dialed in.”

DAZN will distribute “The Ring: High Stakes” to non-subscribers on pay-per-view for $69.99 in the United States and £24.99 in the United Kingdom. The show is included in DAZN’s Ultimate monthly plan for subscribers ($44.99; £24.99).