By Elliot Foster

Paddy Barnes will return to the ring next month.

The former WBC flyweight world title challenger has been out of action since losing at the hands of Cristofer Rosales back in August.

Barnes was stopped inside four rounds at Windsor Park in Belfast, exclusively live on BT Sport, and missed out on a December return due to time constraints.

He was meant to fight on the undercard of Josh Warrington’s IBF featherweight world title defence against Carl Frampton at Manchester Arena.

But he will be back in New York on March 17, exclusively live on ESPN+ Stateside, as part of the supporting cast to Michael Conlan’s return against Ruben Garcia Hernandez.

The card, at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, will see Barnes take on Texas’ Oscar Mojica (11-5-1, 1 KO) and also features Limerick southpaw Lee Reeves, who is 2-0 with both quick.

Vladimir Nikitin, Conlan’s former amateur rival who could be in the opposite corner to the Belfast man in August in Northern Ireland, fights for the third time in the paid code, while Luis Collazo meets Samuel Vargas and there is action for John Bauza, Joseph Adorno and Josue Vargas.