“After the ‘Wonderboy’ fight and that performance, there are guys that would have been like ‘I’m going to have a parade for a second, chill out a little because I just dominated ‘Wonderboy’ and I’m No. 5 in the world,’ but for me, it was like, ‘Who you got next?’
“The gold is my goal,” he reiterated. “I’m not here to be Top 5; I’m here to be champion.”
Although he clearly has his sights set on the top of the division, the 33-year-old is also self-aware enough to know that his path to fighting for championship gold was always going to be very different that the one some of his contemporaries and fellow hopefuls will travel.
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“I know that there isn’t going to be an easy road for me,” said the surging welterweight, who has gone 10-1 with one no contest over his last dozen appearances. “There’s not that, ‘Now he’s guaranteed this or he’s guaranteed that.’ I have to earn every little thing, so I’m working with the mindset that I’ve got to go five, four, three, two, one — I’ve got to get all those and then that’s when I get my championship fight.
“That’s the road I’m going so I don’t have to have any false pretenses,” continued Muhammad. “If I go beat five, four, three, two, one, and then I fight the champ, it’s like, ‘All right — now I’m going to go full circle around the division like they say Kamaru is going full circle around the division.’
“I know I have to fight the best guys and once I’m the champion, when I’ve already gone through those Top 10 guys, it’s only going to be easier the second time around.”
