Junior welterweight contender Ernesto "Tito" Mercado has big plans in store for 2026, but first he must conquer Antonio Moran on Saturday in Stockton, California.

Mercado (17-0, 16 KOs) has evolved from a prized prospect to a surefire contender, and now he’s calling out all of the big names for a title shot to make sure one of them sticks in a division that is set to see some serious reshuffling in the coming year.

The 140-pound division is ruled by Ring and WBO champion Teofimo Lopez, who next faces Shakur Stevenson on January 31.

Subriel Matias, the WBC champion, defends his title against Dalton Smith on January 10. Richardson Hitchins, the IBF beltholder, and Gary Antuanne Russell, the WBA champion, don’t have any fights scheduled yet.

If Mercado gets past Moran (31-7-1, 21 KOs) as expected, he’ll secure a secondary WBO title and move inside the sanctioning body’s top 10 rankings and closer to a crack at the Lopez-Stevenson winner.

“I want to fight both Teofimo and Shakur, so I’m almost a little disappointed one of them is going to take a loss, as it might diminish when I beat them,” Mercado said in a press release. “But it should be a great fight, they are trying to put on the best fights, which is really good. I think Shakur is winning it, which is out of my favor, as he’s not going to want to fight me.

"He’ll pass the belt on to Keyshawn Davis, as they have a little brother thing going on, so hopefully Teofimo wins, and we get it on for the belt.”

Davis, a former lightweight titleholder, hasn’t made his 140-pound debut yet, but when he does he’ll join other division sharks such as Alberto Puello, Arnold Barboza , Sandor Martin, Adam Azim and Mercado, who has already been pegged as one of the future faces of American boxing.

“A fight with Keyshawn would be perfect,” said Mercado. “He’s been out of boxing for a second. He went [missing in action after the Edwin De Los Santos fiasco in July], and I’d like to take him out permanently. We can make that fight happen next on the Lopez-Stevenson undercard, definitely.”

Mercado must make mincemeat of Moran in short order to make the quick turnaround. But he’s ready for immense activity after fighting only once this year, a fourth-round knockout of Jose Pedraza in January.

Pedraza was another credible name added to Mercado’s fast-growing resume, which already features wins against Jeremia Nakathila, Henry Lundy, Jayson Velez and Xolisani Ndongeni in a career that kicked off in 2021.

Mercado was supposed to return in June but was forced to pull out from his scheduled contest on fight week with an injury.

“I was frustrated with the long layoff, but it’s good to be jumping back in with an international belt on the line, and it’s shaping up perfectly,” he said. “I’m excited and I’m going to knock this guy out and go and get that world title belt. I’ve been calling these guys out for a while, but it’s been crickets. Once I’m No. 1 with all the organizations, you can’t say anything anymore.”

Mercado is looking to add another credible name to his resume in Moran, who in turn is looking to play prospect buster once again.

Moran is coming off a majority decision in April against the previously unbeaten Mykquan Williams. Moran’s losses have come at the highest level against Andy Cruz (KO7, 2024), Devin Haney (KO7, 2019), Barboza (UD10, 2021) and Pedraza (UD10, 2018).

“Antonio has been in with everyone, and he’s given them all uncomfortable moments, and I expect nothing less here,” said Mercado. “He’s coming in off the back of a win, and he’ll be high on that, so we wanted a fight like this, to get a WBO belt and get that fight with Teofimo Lopez. So this is all building up to what I want.”

Mercado vs. Moran will be part of the Matchroom Boxing show on DAZN at the Adventist Health Arena, which is headlined by the bout between Diego Pacheco and Kevin Lele Sadjo.