By Francisco Salazar

Unbeaten super middleweight Ronald Ellis makes his long-awaited return to the ring tonight against veteran Taneal Goyco.

The right round bout will take place at the Silver Eagle Gun Arena in Ashburn, Virginia, a suburb west of Washington, D.C.

Ellis (14-0, 10 knockouts) has not fought since winning an eight round unanimous decision over Christopher Brooker on Jan. 20. During the bout, Ellis injured his right hand, which required surgery in April.

The 28-year-old Ellis faces a fighter in Goyco who has pulled off upset victories over the likes of Jerry Odom.

“I don’t know too much about him other than he has some wins over some undefeated guys,” said Ellis, who resides in the Boston suburb of Lynn. “But (Goyco) is from Philadelphia, so I know he is tough.”

Goyco (9-10-1, 4 KOs) has won three of his last five bouts.

Ellis believes a statement win over Goyco on Saturday will bring televised bouts his way in 2018. The Brooker fight was a ‘ShoBox’ broadcast.

“I see my amateur rivals getting big fights, so it’s time to get what is mine,” said Ellis. “Super middleweight is a good division with a lot of good fighters, like (WBO title holder) Gilberto Ramirez, Jesse Hart, (WBC title holder) David Benavidez and Ronald Gavril. I fit in right in the mix with all of them.”

“Also, in the right situation and if the fight was worth it, I could make 160 pounds. I am usually the smaller guy in the ring when I fight at super middleweight.

Next year will be my year, but it starts (tonight). I am going to put on a show and in 2018, it’s going to be hunting season.”

In the main event, middleweight Tori Nelson (16-0-3, 1 KO), who resides in Ashburn, will face Latashia Burton (4-9) in a 10 round bout.

Unbeaten welterweight Malik Hawkins (11-0, 8 KOs) faces Juan Jose Rivera (28-18, 18 KOs) inn an eight round bout.

Bantamweight Alexandru Marin (14-0, 10 KOs) will square off against hard-hitting Juan Medina (10-1, 9 KOs)  in an eight round bout.

Heavyweight Hasim Rahman, Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs) faces James Jones (4-11, 3 KOs) in a four round bout.

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.com, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing