Amir Khan admits defeat to Chris Algieri would all-but end his career as a big-fight boxer.
The Briton faces Algieri on the New Yorker's own patch at the Barclays Centre on Friday with his eyes on a September mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather should he secure victory.
"A bad performance here would ruin me," said Khan. "The Floyd Mayeather fight would go out the window. The super-fights I dream about would disappear.
"I'll be limited in where I have to go if I lose again so there's a lot of pressure on this fight. If you make a mistake, you are done."
Khan knows how much a loss could set his ambitions back, having already suffered three devastating defeats.
The 28-year-old was sensationally knocked out by Colombian Breidis Prescott in the first round seven years ago, before being controversially outpointed by Lamont Peterson in 2011.
Then, in 2012, Khan suffered a TKO defeat to Danny Garcia, and was accused of looking past the American to bigger fights against Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
"I don't want to look past this fight," Khan added. "I've made this mistake before so now I just focus 100 percent on what's in front of me.
"When this fight is over we know where we stand. I would love to fight Garcia again and put the record straight - the same goes for Peterson.
"Kell Brook? That could happen. He's only fought Shawn Porter in the top 10 - let's hope he can step up a bit and then it's worth fighting him."