by Francisco Salazar

Matt Remillard returns to action tonight against Fatiou Fassinou in an eight round lightweight bout at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

Remillard (24-1, with 13 KOs) made a return to the ring after a six-year hiatus on April 1, winning an eight round unanimous decision over Agustine Mauras.

Prior to the Mauras fight, Remillard last appeared in the ring in March of 2011, remaining on his stool at the start of the 11th round after receiving punishment from Mikey Garcia for 10 rounds.

Remillard should have a partisan crowd on his side tonight as he resides in nearby Hartford.

Fassinou (27-5-3, with 14 KOs) lost by unanimous decision over eight rounds to unbeaten Rafael Mensah on March 17. The loss snapped a six-bout unbeaten streak for the fighter from Cotonou, Benin.

In the co-main event, Ruslan Shamalov (4-0, with 3 KOs) will face George Arias (6-0, with 3 KOs) in a six round bout featuring unbeaten heavyweights.

Unbeaten Radzhab Butaev (5-0, with 4 KOs) of Russia battles Abraham Alvarez (20-10-1, with 11 KOs) of Mexico in an eight round middleweight bout.

Unbeaten cruiserweight Luis Garcia (14-0, with 11 KOs) of Cuba will face Felipe Romero (19-13-1, with 13 KOs) of Mexico in a six round bout.

Myquan Williams (6-0, with 4 KOs) and veteran Ariel Vasquez (13-17-2, with 9 KOs) will square off in a six round welterweight 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, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing