By Francisco Salazar

Dusty Hernandez-Harrison will make his long-awaited return to the ring tonight.

The unbeaten welterweight will fight veteran Bruce Rumbolz in a six-round bout at the Grand Theatre in New Albany, Indiana.

CTH Boxing Promotions will promote the card.

Harrison (30-0-1, 16 knockouts), who resides in Washington, DC, has not fought since decision victory over Thomas LaManna in September of 2015. Four months before that fight, Harrison fought to a split-decision draw against Mike Dallas.

The 24-year-old Harrison, who is popular in and around the ‘DMV,’ which consists of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, was released from his promotional deal with Roc Nation in June. Since then, he has had fights fall through.

Harrison did sign a promotional deal with Lee Baxter Promotions, which is based in Toronto, Canada, in December.

Harrison was scheduled to fight in New Cumberland, West Virginia last month, but the fight fell through when his opponent never showed up to the weigh-in the day before and a suitable opponent was not found.

With the welterweight division being one of the best in boxing, Harrison feels left out and wants to pick up where he left off two and a half years ago.

“I went thru every emotion,” Harrison told Boxingscene in February. “At one point, I thought things were peaceful. I had my first break of my whole life, but then I didn’t know what to do.”

“I was angry. I was sad. I was discouraged, but then after seeings friends of mine, like Jarrett Hurd and Gervonta Davis, who I grew up with be so successful, I was motivated again and just prayed that the right opportunities would come.”

Rumbolz (22-35-2, 15 KOs), who resides in Sterling, Illinois, has not fought since a decision loss to Stephen Edwards in September of 2017. Rumbolz has lost his last 17 bouts.

Unbeaten junior middleweight Derrick Coleman (5-0, 3 KOs) of Detroit will square off against Raymond Bighead (0-1) in a four-round bout.

In welterweight action, 41-year-old Cesar Vega (11-16-1, 2 KOs) will face 42-year-old Thomas Amaro (4-14-1, 3 KOs) in a six-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. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing