By Francisco Salazar
Jackie Nava thought her boxing career was over after defending her WBC and WBA junior featherweights titles against Mayra Alejandra Gomez almost two years ago.
While she was content to serve her constituents in Congress, the itch to return to the ring was too strong to ignore.
Fast forward to tonight and Nava begins the task of one day claiming another world title to a Hall-of-Fame career.
Nava will face Ana Maria Lozano in a 10 round bout at the Auditorio Pablo Colin in Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico, Mexico.
After her victory over Gomez in February of 2015, the 36-year-old Nava (32-4-3, 14 KOs) stepped away from the sport to pursue a career in politics. Four months after Nava's last fight, voters in and around Tijuana, her hometown, elected her to the Chamber of Deputies for the 53rd Legislature of the Mexican Congress.
She served on numerous committees, including sports and children's rights.
Nava returns against a fighter who is familiar with boxing fans.
Lozano (13-5-1, 10 KOs) has fought a handful of times in Mexico against contenders Yasmin Rivas and Irma Garcia.
Unbeaten Jaime Munguia (19-0, 16 KOs) will face hard-hitting Juan Macias Montiel (19-3-1, 19 KOs) in a 10 round welterweight bout.
Both bouts will air live on Azteca TV throughout Mexico and on beIN Sports en Espanol in the United States (11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT).
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing