This time around more than ever for Diego de la Hoya, there is truly place like home.

The junior featherweight title hopeful is eager to experience a homecoming night to remember in a year he’d otherwise forget, as he is set for his upcoming clash versus Venezuela’s Renson Robles. The bout takes place this Saturday in his hometown of Mexicali, Mexico, coming five months after his lone career defeat and more than a year after a failed attempt to fight in familiar surroundings.

“That’s just boxing, you have to take the good with the bad,” de la Hoya (21-1, 10KOs) told BoxingScene.com in dealing with recent setbacks. “The goal this weekend is to show all my fans in general that Diego de la Hoya still means business.”

At just 25 years, time is most certainly on his side. There exists, however, an eagerness to succeed on his own merits and move beyond the storyline of being the cousin of Hall of Fame former six-division titlist Oscar de la Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions has guided his career since his pro debut more than six years ago.

The right steps were taken along the way, particularly in his near-shutout win of then-unbeaten former bantamweight titlist Randy Caballero in Sept. 2017. By last summer, he was in line for a crack at a major title in the 122-pound division, only for the bottom to fall out from there.

First came his canceled homecoming last November, when his first career fight in Mexicali ended with his being hospitalized after fainting during fight week and having to withdraw from a planned clash with Edixon Perez. The bout was meant as a placeholder to get him to a title shot and also fighting at home—and anywhere in Mexico—for the first time in his career.

The wish of an in-country showcase finally came this past April, only for the night to end in a two-round No Contest when an accidental clash of heads left opponent Enrique Bernache unable to continue. Three months later struck disaster, suffering a shocking 6th round stoppage loss to resurgent contender Ronny Rios this past July on a night where a win would’ve led to a title shot in his very near future.

Instead, it’s back to square one—though perhaps the fresh start his career has needed for quite some time.

“That’s all I’ve been doing is concentrating on this fight and getting back in the mix at 122 pounds,” states de la Hoya, insisting his intentions to remain at junior featherweight. “It’s been a difficult year, there’s no way around it. But Saturday night is just about reestablishing myself and proving to the world and especially all my fans that I still have a lot of promise ahead.

“It’s most important to show my fans at home that. It’s such a tremendous honor to end the year fighting in my hometown, where I can take that first big step back towards becoming a world champion.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox