Lightweight Jamie Kavanagh (15-0-1, 7 KOs) will return to ring action on December 14 in a 10-round fight in Cancun, Mexico. Though not confirmed, it looks like the 23-year-old will fight Daniel Ruiz (31-7-1, 21 KOs) on a card promoted by Pepe Gomez.

Ruiz is an experienced fighter who has been a professional since 2007. He has had a busy 2013 thus far, fighting five times and winning four. Notable names on his resume include losses to Abner Cotto and Irish Canadian Logan McGuinness. The Mexican has gone 10 rounds or more six times in his career.

This assignment will be Kavanagh’s second scheduled 10-rounder (his first was in his last fight, a first round KO win over Antonio Meza on August 8), and the 23-year-old has only gone eight rounds twice in his career.

This year has been one of transition for Kavanagh, who made a big career decision to leave trainer Freddie Roach and the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and move to Indio, CA to work with new trainer Joel Diaz. Until the change he had been co-managed by Roach and Steve Feder, but that relationship has ended too, and now he is dealing with his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, directly.

“It’s really just me. I have a good relationship with Golden Boy, and I keep in touch with them myself,” Kavanagh told the Irish Voice on Saturday.

This is Kavanagh’s second full training camp with Diaz, and he explained that he feels the move from Los Angeles to Indio had been a good one for his career.

“I am a lot happier here. I am not getting left out and getting a lot more one-to-one. The Diaz brothers are close to one another inside and outside the ring. We are always talking about boxing,” Kavanagh said.

Before returning to Indio, Kavanagh spent a few weeks getting into shape with long-time coach Sedano Ruiz at Matthew Macklin’s gym in Marbella, Spain, to ensure he arrived in the U.S. in good shape. 

Kavanagh added that he and Diaz had picked up where they left off in terms of continuing to work on the defensive side of his game, getting the proper length into his shots and trying to let his shots flow naturally and more fluidly.

Kavanagh began his career as a light welterweight but moved down a class to lightweight. He said he is very comfortable at the weight and feels he can grow into it more as his career develops. A victory against the durable Ruiz could be a stepping-stone to what could be a huge 2014 for the Dubliner.

In other news, middleweight Matthew Macklin’s original opponent for his December 7 fight in Atlantic City, Willie Nelson, has pulled out due to injury and has been replaced by Lamar Russ (14-0, 7 KOs). Macklin (29-5, 20 KOs), who will have former opponent Jamie Moore training him for this fight, represents a huge step up in class for Russ, who hails from North Carolina. Both men are promoted by Lou DiBella.

Finally, heavyweight Tyson Fury was again left frustrated after David Haye pulled out of their February fight after suffering a shoulder injury. This is the second time that injury has caused Haye to opt out of a fight with Fury (he dropped of their scheduled September fight due to a cut sustained in sparring).

Fury was last in action when he defeated Steve Cunningham at the Theater in Madison Square Garden in April and his representatives must now look for a new opponent so he can move forward with his career.

Related: