With the date originally budgeted to take place in upstate New York, there was initial concern that Emanuel ‘Pinky’ Colon wouldn’t be able to get in a fight in 2020.

The fan-friendly Buffalo-based Boricua chose to make a compromise in order to ensure he wouldn’t stay out of the ring any longer than necessary. With that comes a return 52 weeks after his last bout, as the streaking junior welterweight knockout artist faces Mexico City’s Antonio ‘Toño’ Moran this weekend at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida (Friday, Telemundo, 12:00 a.m. ET).

“When my team approached me for this fight, I was all in,” insists Colon.

The bout will be his first since making his Boxeo Telemundo debut last October. The event also marked the first time for the series to head to Niagara Falls, where Colon (17-1-1, 16KOs)—who relocated to nearby Buffalo from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico—serves as a major draw. The most recent of his three straight 1st round knockouts came in front of a rabid crowd as he quickly disposed of Richard Zamora in their main event.

Colon faces arguably his stiffest test to date in Moran (25-4-1, 18KOs), a Telemundo regular who almost always offers a credible account himself even when his arm is not raised in victory. Most notable along those lines came in a hard-fought 10-round decision defeat to Cidra, Puerto Rico’s Jose Pedraza in June 2018, with Pedraza going on to win his second divisional title just two months later.

The lone such exception came when Moran landed on the very wrong end of a highlight reel knockout at the hands of unbeaten lightweight Devin Haney last May. Moran has since moved up to junior welterweight, the extra five pounds undoubtedly of benefit to his 6’0” frame.

It showed in a hard-fought 10-round draw with unbeaten Yomar Alamo in this very venue last October, followed by a 6th round knockout of Luis Solis just six weeks ago in the Kissimmee bubble.

“I’m ready for Colon, these are the challenges that keep me going in boxing,” notes Moran. “This is my third fighter from Puerto Rico. I feel like I’m 1-1 (the belief that he deserved the nod over Alamo rather than settling for the draw). God willing, I will be 2-1 (after) Friday.”

Naturally, his opponent has other ideas—namely using this fight to springboard onto the title stage.

“If I want to contend for a world title, I need to beat guys like Moran,” notes Colon. “No excuses. I saw Alamo's fight with him, and I learned many of the dos and don'ts on fighting Moran.

“I have power in both hands, and so does he. It's a matter of who can catch who first.”

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