The undercard for the
junior middleweight title unification bout between WBO champion
Xander Zayas and WBA beltholder
Abass Baraou on January 31 is rounding out.
In the co-main event, welterweight contender
Rohan Polanco (17-0, 10 KOs) will face Christian Gomez (23-6-1, 21 KOs) in a 10-round matchup at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Top Rank announced on Thursday.
In separate 10-rounders,
Giovani Santillan (34-1, 18 KOs) will make his 154-pound debut against Courtney Pennington (17-11-3, 7 KOs) and Euri Cedeno (13-0-1, 12 KOs) will continue his middleweight campaign against Etoundi Michel William (16-2, 12 KOs).
“I’m not coming to play on January 31,” said Polanco. “I'm coming to send a strong message to the division. Fighting as the co-main event is a great opportunity that I intend to take advantage of. I represent Dominican boxing. I'm hungry, fearless, and determined to get closer to a world title opportunity.”
The 27-year-old Polanco is The Ring’s No. 5-rated fighter at 147 pounds and a 2020 Dominican Olympian. Polanco fought three times this year, scoring wins against Quinton Randall (UD10), Fabian Maidana (UD10), and Jean Carlos Torres (KO2).
Gomez, a 32-year-old from Mexico, has lost four out of his last five fights in the last three years against the likes of Shakhram Giyasov and Isaac Lucero.
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.