Blake Caparello set for Maximiliano Jorge Gomez on December 13th

 
LEADING Australian light heavyweight Blake Caparello will make his first appearance since his unsuccessful title challenge against Sergey Kovalev, facing Argentine Maximiliano Jorge Gomez in his return bout.

 
Caparello, 28, is looking to rebuild his career and make a swift return to light heavyweight world ratings, with his twelve-round title fight, pencilled in for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific strap and more importantly a top-fifteen world rating by the WBO for the winner.

 
“I’m definitely looking forward to getting back in the ring and finishing off the year strong,” said Caparello in an exclusive interview with Aus-Boxing. “It’s been a big year for me as I made my international debut at the start of the year and then fought for the WBO title against Sergey Kovalev in August.”

 
“I’m looking to bounce back strong,”

 
The Australian shocked the boxing world when he floored Kovalev in the first round, but the now unified IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion showed his punching power, flooring Caparello three times in the following round before the fight was called.

 
Despite the loss – which stands as the lone blemish on Caparello’s record – the quietly spoken former state, national and regional titlist is confident that he is a better fighter for the experience.

 
“I was obviously very upset with the result of the Kovalev fight,” Caparello explained. “But I have learned so much from that fight. It will make me a better fighter and I still believe that I can beat the best in the world,”

 
“I just got caught and that’s boxing.”

 
In Gomez (15-3, 6 KOs), Caparello will get a well overdue soft touch, given his back-to-back fights against proven entities Elvir Muriqi and Sergey Kovalev in the US.

 
The Greenvale-based southpaw (19-1-1, 6 KOs) has consistently fought and beat the best fighters in the Asia Pacific region and providing he wins against Gomez, fans can expect to see Caparello in another high-profile fight in 2015. His return was originally slated for October 8th, but a nagging elbow injury forced a slight delay to his inevitable comeback fight.

 
In eighteen fights spanning over a four-year professional career, Gomez, 31, is yet to fight outside of his homeland Argentina, making an already difficult fight against Caparello an uphill task.

 
“The plan is to work our way back up the ratings and earn a mandatory shot,” said Caparello in closing. “We will be heading back to the US in 2015 to get quality sparring and continue to fight over there,”

 
Caparello has never been a fighter to rest on his laurels and has always gone the extra mile to improve as a fighter.

 
Having handled some of the best fighters in the light heavyweight division with headgear on, Caparello is eager to show the boxing world he is equally capable of delivering under the bright lights.

 
The road back starts here.

 
 
Photo: Naoki Fukuda