Youssef Dib has long wanted to be recognized as one of the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in Australia.

The 31-year-old lightweight from Sydney will get his chance when he takes on former world title challenger Liam Wilson over 10 rounds at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, New South Wales on July 10.

The fight will be the main support bout to the junior featherweight contest between Sam Goodman (rated at No. 4 by The Ring at 122-pounds) and Chainoi Worawut.

Dib says he always knew he would end up facing Wilson.

“It’s definitely a fight myself and my team have earmarked for some time now,” said Dib (21-1, 11 KOs) at Wednesday’s press conference to announce the No Limit show. “I always thought Liam was a bit of a bigger body at super featherweight and that he would come up, so I’ve been ready for an opportunity like this.

“I feel like in terms of my career, I’ve fought for the longest time in obscurity and it’s only been the last three or four fights that I’ve had the backing of No Limit and they’ve given me the opportunity to put my skills on display and this is another great opportunity.

“I’ll be real with you. Looking up and seeing my face up on that big billboard was a real ‘pinch me’ sort of moment. It’s why I’ve trained so hard for the last 15 years.

“These are the fights that get you up. These are the fights that you want to be a part of. You want to put your name up in the bright lights. These are the opportunities now.”

Dib scored a breakout win in March last year with a 10-round unanimous decision win over the tough Kye MacKenzie. In his next fight last July, he climbed off the canvas to stop Miles Zalewski in the ninth round of their thrilling brawl. But in his third bout of the year Dib was ambushed by a rejuvenated Ibrahim Balla, who largely outboxed him to score a majority decision victory in December.

Dib rebounded from that setback with a fourth-round stoppage of Kiwi lefty Nort Beauchamp in March.

Wilson represents yet another step up in class. The 28-year-old from Caboolture in Queensland has mixed in much better company than Dib, but is coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to Mexico’s Oscar Valdez in Glendale, Arizona in March.

“Nobody is unbeatable and Liam has shown vulnerabilities in the past in terms of mistakes, making fundamental mistakes,” Dib said. “He is there to be hit and that’s my plan, to hit him more than he hits me and to come up with the win by any means necessary.

“It’s going to mean a lot. I believe Liam is probably one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in Australia. So a victory over Liam is going to put me in that set as well. That’s all the motivation I need.

“There’s nothing more that I want than to be one of the best boxers pound-for-pound Australia has and I want to be representing Australia on the world stage. This is the first step towards that.”

The bright lights and the big stage won’t bother Dib. As the younger brother of former IBF featherweight titleholder Billy Dib, he has seen it all before.

“I know what it takes to be a great fighter,” said Dib. “I know what it takes to win world championships because I’ve watched my brother do it. I’m looking to follow in the footsteps of my brother and also the great Australian fighters that are currently here.

“Liam has achieved a lot in Australian boxing already. He has fought for two world titles in his short career. Beating Liam is going to allow me to get to that level. And that’s what I need to do.”