WBO lightweight champion, Terri Harper, will target a lightweight unification clash with her WBC counterpart, Caroline Dubois, should she beat Germany’s Natalie Zimmerman on Friday night.

DAZN will stream the action globally from Doncaster’s Eco-Power Stadium.

As well as the small matter of preparing for a world title fight, Denaby Main’s Harper will also have to deal with the pressure of performing in front on an expectant home crowd this weekend but as dialled in as she may be, she has been unable to ignore the prospect of what may lie in her future.

A unification fight between Harper and Dubois has been spoken about since the Yorkshire woman beat Rhiannon Dixon to become a three-weight world champion last September but now seems increasingly likely to happen later this year.

The quietly spoken Harper usually shies away from pre-fight conflict but Dubois has become more and more outspoken over the past twelve months and has talked candidly about what she believes will happen if and when the two do eventually get into the ring.

Harper hasn’t taken kindly to the Londoner’s words.

“I’m always respectful but she really does rub me up the wrong way,” Harper (15-2-1, 6 KOs) said at Wednesday’s press conference.

“There’s something personal about that fight and, honestly, I cannot wait to get paid to punch that girl in the face.”

Of course, any plans for a unification fight will go out of the window if Harper slips up this weekend but the 28 year-old is heavily favoured to retain her title against Zimmerman (13-0, 3 KOs).

The German challenger is taking monumental step up in class. The 42-year-old has never tasted defeat but has also yet to record a professional victory over anybody with a winning record and it would be one of the upsets of the year if she were to unseat Harper.

Still, Zimmerman will walk to the ring with the unique self belief that is particular to an unbeaten fighter and Harper will need to quickly impose herself and put some doubt into the German’s mind.

Despite her success, Harper has admitted to struggling with her own self confidence in the past but seems happy and comfortable at 135lbs. She looked back to her best when relieving Dixon of her WBO belt last September and has set her sights on proving herself the best lightweight on the planet.

“I’ve got the fire in me, the self-belief, the love for boxing. I'm hungry again and if I don’t get a statement win here on Friday night I’ll be disappointed,” she said.

“I’ve kind of developed into this great fighter and I really feel like I’m coming into my prime. I’ve come into the lightweight division now and I’m here to show everyone that this is gonna be my division and I want to go on to unify and become undisputed.”