Andrew Cain will be looking to make up for a lost year when he fights Mexico's Alejandro Jair Gonzalez at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena on February 7.

Cain (14-1, 12 KOs) hasn't boxed since beating Charlie Edwards in March, but he knows a win over Gonzalez (19-6-3, 11 KOs) will put him in line for a shot at the WBC bantamweight title recently won by The Ring's No. 3 118-pound fighter, Takuma Inoue.

The Liverpudlian has endured long absences in the past and is better placed than most to deal with it, but he'd much rather be active.

"I'd fight once a month if it was up to me," Cain told The Ring.

A series of brutal knockouts had persuaded many knowledgeable voices that Cain had the potential to succeed at the highest level but he needed to prove his worth against an opponent who could help him break through with the masses.

The fight with Edwards, a former WBC flyweight champion, promised to do just that.

The pair are polar opposites in and out of the ring, but once the first bell rang the heat generated by a tense but entertaining build-up quickly evaporated.

Edwards did all he could to avoid exchanging with the dangerous Cain. His approach was understandable and reasonably effective, but it made for a poor spectacle.

Cain won a split decision, but the instantly forgettable fight didn't catapult him forward in the way he would have liked. Over the past few months, injury has prevented him from fighting and erasing the memory of the frustrating 12 rounds.

"I've just been waiting for a fight, really. Obviously there's a lot of things that go on behind closed doors and politics as well, so I've just been training and waiting," he said.

"It's annoying isn't it? It's boxing though. You've just got to take the rough with the smooth. I'll just carry on doing what I do, knocking these guys out and I'll be there in the end."

Gonzalez is the type of battle-hardened Mexican far better and tougher than his record suggests. In May 2023, the 25-year-old lost a majority decision to Jose Teran and dropped to 13-6-2. Since then, he's unbeaten in seven and risen to the WBC's No. 5 ranking.

Rather than obsessing over Gonzalez and the threat he carries, Cain will let his trainer Paul Stevenson piece together a plan.

Cain will enter the fight as a sizeable favourite, but he knows at 29 he can't afford a single mistake.

"I haven't looked at him. Not for any particular reason, I just haven’t. I probably will have a little gander," he said.

"I'll let Paul watch him, but I know what I know anyway. This fella, and any other, that tries to come into my city or that ring to try and take my life away, they're going to have to kill me."