KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A professional boxer from the Kansas City metro is taking the sport by storm and that is no hyperbole. "This has been my life's work, I by no means think it was an accident that I'm here,” Eric Priest said. With a win on Thursday, he will have the chance to make his mark globally and currently at 14-0 he wants to remain undefeated. But he's not forgetting where he came from and is hoping to inspire kids from all over the world. Kansas City area artist enhances Chiefs art display ahead of AFC Championship “I want to be an inspiration for other kids who want to follow that path, it's been a wild ride, a wild ride and a lot of hard work. Imagine the work you think it will take and then multiple that by 10 and that's probably still not enough,” Priest said. What he is saying is that to describe what he has done as hard work in order to get to where he is, is an understatement. For more than a decade, the 26-year-old has put more time into this than anything else. The perfect record and eight knockouts that speaks for itself. Also, the fact that is he now fighting under Golden Boy Promotions, which is the brainchild of boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya. "It talks self-belief, you got to kind of believe in something and luckily I've been saying and telling people that I was going to do this my entire life,” Priest said. On top of the months of preparation it takes to get ready for a fight on this level, preparing mentally and physically is already a tall task. But it was just mere weeks ago, Priest became one of the tens of thousands forced to evacuate as unprecedented fires raged near his home in Santa Monica. "We all know somebody who's lost a lot or lost a home and it's terrible. It's a tragedy right now and the first responders and the firefighters are absolute heroes,” he said. But just like he has always done he says he will overcome. When asked, the local star turned undefeated middleweight boxer on the cusp, just one win away, from being ranked top 10 in the world, if he was ready, his answer was simple. See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri "If you're asking if I'm ready, I would say I'm born ready," Priest said. If you would like to support him you can watch the fight which will be globally broadcast on DAZN this Thursday. The whole card gets underway at 8 p.m., 10:30 p.m. is when his main fight will begin.