To face a very difficult and demanding task; to have to do more than one can capably manage

He was just an amateur and was always bragging that he could beat any pro in the ring; however when the Navy boxing champion challenged him, he finally met his match

Come pugile dilettante, si era sempre vantato di poter battere qualsiasi professionista, ma quando il campione della marina lo ha sfidato, ha trovato pane per i suoi denti

They say that the new chess computer can perform incredibly well and that even the world chess champion will have his work cut out for him if playing against it

Dicono che il nuovo computer di scacchi giochi incredibilmente bene e che perfino il campione del mondo di scacchi troverebbe pane per i suoi denti se ci giocasse contro

This expression may have its origin in tailoring and it's a variation of "to cut out work for", simply meaning to prepare work for another, with no implication of any difficulty at all. Maybe, being the superiors notably demanding, in time the expression took on the added connotation of difficulty and excessiveness