'Masher' won the WBC international strap at Everton FC's Goodison Park last year and now gets the chance to add another belt in front of his home fans at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on April 22.
"Fighting for the Commonwealth title is mad - I'm over the moon," said Dodd. "Along with the British and European belt, the Commonwealth is one of the big boys to win and it can really open doors for me.
"I've been in camp for a while, training hard and hoping to land a big fight and that's what I've got."
Dodd (12-2-1, 2KOs) failed in his attempts at capturing the British lightweight title after drawing and losing his bouts with current title holder Scott Cardle.
However, he is not looking too far into his past results having boxed at a higher level than he had ever envisaged.
"If you had told me a few years ago that I'd have boxed for the British title and won the WBC International title at Goodison Park, I'd have thought you were mad - things like that were never on my radar," he said.
Appleyard (10-2, 4KOs) lost the British super featherweight title last year but is unbeaten since stepping up to 135lbs, something which Dodd is wary off.
"Lee is a good kid, a tall and rangy boxer and he's big for the weight, so it should be a cracker," he said.
Dodd's clash with Appleyard forms part of a huge night of action in Liverpool as Martin Murray fights Gabriel Rosado at middleweight.
Rocky Fielding faces John Ryder for the vacant British super-middleweight title, Tom Farrell and Tommy Carus clash for the WBA international super-lightweight title, while Rio Olympian Joe Cordina makes his pro debut and Paul Economides and Craig Glover are also in action.
