Steven Nelson mostly has fought on stablemate Terence Crawford’s undercards and off TV since he turned pro in March 2016.

He is ready, Nelson believes, to capitalize on his opportunity Saturday night to introduce himself to boxing fans who are completely unfamiliar with him. The super middleweight prospect will make his ESPN debut in a 10-round fight against another unbeaten 168-pounder, Cem Kilic, in the co-feature of a doubleheader that’ll air from Atlantic City, New Jersey.

“This is the chance for the world to see me, for me to be put out there to the world,” Nelson said during an interview with krikya360.com. “If you just go to anybody’s house and they have their TV on, it’s on ESPN. So, even if you’re not a big fan of boxing, you have a big chance of seeing me perform, just by having your TV on.”

The 31-year-old Nelson, an Army veteran from Omaha, Nebraska, will face an undefeated fighter for just the second time, the first such opponent since he stopped Reyes Diaz (then 5-0) in November 2016. Germany’s Kilic (14-0, 9 KOs) is supposed to represent a step up in competition for Nelson (15-0, 12 KOs), but Nelson hasn’t noticed anything about Kilic that concerns him.

“I feel like he’s a good opponent,” said Nelson, who’s one of Crawford’s closest friends. “He can box. He has the good basic form of boxing. I just feel like he don’t have that extra edge, where if you’re going against other boxers that’s just as good, how you gonna pull that win out? Or what are you gonna do different? He’s just a nice, straight-forward boxer to me. … It’s not like, ‘Oh, he’s fast. Oh, he’s extra strong. Oh, he’s slick.’ It’s just everything’s basic.”

ESPN will televise Nelson-Kilic before a 10-round main event between light heavyweights Jesse Hart (26-2, 21 KOs) and Joe Smith Jr. (24-3, 20 KOs). The telecast is slated to start at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

“I feel like this is my breakthrough fight,” Nelson said. “My family and people who’ve been following me for years, they know Steven ‘So Cold’ Nelson. ‘This guy’s talented. He does this. He makes his own uniforms. He does everything in the book. And this guy, he’s a talented boxer as well.’ I think this is my time to show the world. ‘Who is this guy? He came out of nowhere.’

“Then they start looking at what I do and how I can motivate more people to get out and do more things as well, and use their talents and their skills, and knowing that there’s nothing in this world that you can’t do as long as you apply yourself.”

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