Rohan Polanco returns Saturday aiming to become a welterweight contender as his team pushes the unbeaten Olympian toward bigger fights at 147 pounds.
Rohan Polanco cemented himself as one of boxing’s best prospects in 2025. Now, Polanco has his sights set on taking the next step to becoming a contender in a shallow welterweight division, and his trainer, Hector Bermudez, believes he's ready for everyone at 147 pounds. “I have fighters that I protect, but as a trainer of Rohan Polanco and Yoenli Hernandez, I will put them against anybody,” Bermudez told The Ring. “I used to just say, ‘Just send me the names. I don't need two, three names to study.’ Whoever's available, we want the biggest names. Hopefully, they send the right names by the end of this year.” Polanco (17-0, 10 KOs), of Los Alcarrizos, Dominican Republic, returns Saturday to face Christian Gomez at Coliseo de Puerto Rico. Polanco versus Gomez will serve as the co-main event to the 154-pound unification title bout between WBO champion Xander Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) and WBA titleholder Abass Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs), which will stream live on Top Rank Classics. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=T1onymlozh4 Polanco, an Olympian, went 3-0 with one knockout last year. The 27-year-old is coming off a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Quinton Randall on July 26. One fight prior, he won every round on the three judges' scorecard against Fabian Maidana, who also tasted the canvas. Polanco is ranked No. 5 by The Ring at welterweight while the sanctioning groups rate him sixth (WBO), 10th (IBF) and 12th (WBC). Gomez (23-6-1, 21 KOs) is coming off back-to-back unanimous decision defeats and has lost four of his last five fights. The 32-year-old from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, had won six straight fights before hitting the rough skid, which began with a unanimous decision loss to The Ring’s No. 6 welterweight, Shakhram Giyasov (17-0, 10 KOs), in 2022. For Bermudez, he hopes that a win over Gomez will mark the start of a huge year for Polanco. “We’re just waiting on the call,” he said. “Whoever they send, hopefully this year, the promotion team said they're going to really push Rohan this year, and we're really looking forward to that.”
