Rohan Polanco will take another step toward world title contention when he faces Christian Gomez in a 10-round welterweight bout on January 31 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fight will serve as the co-feature to the junior middleweight title unification between Xander Zayas and Abass Baraou at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico.
Polanco has built strong momentum since moving up to welterweight earlier this year. The 2020/21 Olympian has stopped Juan Carlos Torres and earned unanimous decision wins over Fabian Maidana and Quinton Randall, performances that have pushed him into the top-10 rankings of two sanctioning bodies. Fighting on a major stage in Puerto Rico, Polanco made it clear he intends to make a statement.
“I’m not coming to play on January 31 - I'm coming to send a strong message to the division,” Polanco said.
Gomez (23-6-1, 21 KOs) brings also a lot of power despite recent struggles. The Mexican puncher enters the fight following back-to-back decision losses to Nicklaus Flaz and Alberto Palmetta and has dropped four of his last five bouts. Still, his knockout-heavy record suggests Polanco will be facing a dangerous opponent over the scheduled 10 rounds.
Top Rank also confirmed additional undercard bouts for the January 31 event. Junior middleweight contender Giovani Santillan (34-1, 18 KOs), will make his divisional debut in a 10-round fight against Courtney Pennington (17-11-3, 7 KOs), while unbeaten Dominican middleweight Euri Cedeño (13-0-1, 12 KOs), returns to face Etoundi Michel William (16-2, 12 KOs).
Learn more about the event here.
Image Credit: Top Rank