Ra’eese Aleem understands the challenging assignment that awaits him Sunday afternoon in Broadbeach, Australia.

The unbeaten junior featherweight contender will encounter an emerging Australian, Sam Goodman, in his opponent’s home country. Aleem, a Las Vegas resident raised in Muskegon, Michigan, knows that the partisan crowd could influence the judges, but he doesn’t plan on allowing their 12-round, 122-pound IBF elimination match to reach the scorecards.

With a title shot at stake, Aleem doesn’t intend to leave his fate in the hands of anyone other than himself.

“Getting the stoppage would be ideal,” Aleem told krikya360.com. “I do think I get the knockout. I believe it’ll come. This won’t be the first time I’m fighting an undefeated fighter in his hometown, but it is out of the country. It’s gonna be different, but I just plan on going out there and being Ra’eese Aleem.

“I don’t wanna worry about the crowd or the judges or this and that in between. That is what it is. I can’t control that. I can control who I am and what I bring to the table, so I’m just gonna be locked in.”

Showtime will televise the battle between Aleem (20-0, 12 KOs) and Goodman (14-0, 7 KOs) live as the opener of a two-bout broadcast scheduled to start Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. EDT in the United States. Sydney’s Tim Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) will defend his WBO interim junior middleweight title against Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo (35-2, 23 KOs) in the 12-round main event at Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The Tszyu-Ocampo and Aleem-Goodman matches will be part of a pay-per-view telecast Sunday afternoon in Australia ($59.99; 12 p.m. AEST).

Aleem, 32, respects Goodman’s boxing ability, which enabled the 24-year-old contender to unanimously outpoint Ireland’s TJ Doheny (23-4, 17 KOs) in his last fight, a 10-rounder March 12 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Doheny held the IBF junior featherweight title for eight months in 2018 and 2019.

“He has a big amateur background,” Aleem said of Goodman. “Great fighter, great boxer. He’s one of Australia’s superstars. And then he’s undefeated. He’s beat some good guys. He’s just not quite on my level. It’s just my time is now and his might be a few years from now. I’m still gonna have to earn every round and earn the victory. I look forward to earning a bunch of new fans in Australia.”

Goodman is the IBF’s fourth-ranked contender for its newly crowned 122-pound champion, Marlon Tapales. The Philippines’ Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) upset Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev (11-1, 8 KOs) by split decision to win the IBF and WBA belts April 8 at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio.

Aleem is listed one spot below Goodman in the IBF’s rankings, but the top two spots are vacant. A victory would move the winner closer to a shot at Tapales’ title.

“I have to earn it,” said Aleem, who is also ranked second by the WBO and seventh by the WBA. “I have to get into position for any of that to happen. To do that, I have to beat [Goodman] first. It’s gonna be challenging, but I’m gonna be Ra’eese Aleem and do what I do.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.