Guzman Return Confirmed For 3/7, Faces Javier Castro

By Jake Donovan     

Former two-division champion Joan Guzman will return to the ring on March 7 in Washington D.C. The

suggesting the possibility of the troubled boxer being added to the broadcast.

Guzman will face Mexico's Javier Castro on the show. Also appearing on the card — in separate bouts - will be local favorite Anthony Peterson, as well as red hot newcomer Erickson Lubin, who will first appear on the February 7 edition of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights series and possible one more fight in between.

Guzman (33-1-1, 20KO) hasn't fought since suffering the lone loss of his career, a technical decision at the hands of Khabib Allakhverdiev in November 2012. Guzman suffered a rare knockdown and was outboxed for much of the bout before suffering injuries in the 7th and 8th rounds, the latter forcing the bout to come to a halt and go to the scorecards.

An attempt to return to the ring last June resulted in a far too common theme - coming in over the contracted weight limit. The Dominican boxer was more than a division over the limit for his scheduled interim title fight with Vicente Mosquera, resulting in his being removed from what would have been a headlining slot on Telemundo.

The incident marked at least the fifth time in his career he failed to make weight for a contracted bout, twice resulting in a cancellation. Out of the ring for more than a year, the former champ promises this time to be different.

“We have returned to the old school, we left the weights aside which built up my mass and added simple and traditional routines like morning runs, bicycle and jump the rope to bring down volume and build up stamina," insists Guzman.

“We do not underestimate anyone. We know that Castro will come with the desire to add a name like Guzman’s to his record and our job is to make sure that does not happen. We will take this fight with all seriousness and we will go in the ring with a fight plan that will give us the victory.”