By Keith Idec

NEWARK, N.J. – Julian Rodriguez made a triumphant return to the ring near his hometown Saturday night.

In his first fight in nearly two years, the 24-year-old junior welterweight prospect knocked out Colombian veteran Hevinson Herrera in the first round of a scheduled six-round bout on the Shakur Stevenson-Alberto Guevara undercard at Prudential Center. Rodriguez (17-0, 11 KOs), of nearby Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, needed just short of a minute to finish off Herrera (24-18-1, 18 KOs).

A left-right-left combination by Rodriguez dropped Herrera 49 seconds into their fight. Herrera could only make it to one knee before referee Sparkle Lee’s count reached 10, and the fight was stopped 59 seconds into the first round.

“I was very confident in my preparation,” Rodriguez said, “so I felt like I had to go in there and do what I had to do.”

Before Saturday night, Rodriguez hadn’t fought since out-pointing Mexico’s Dario Ferman (17-6, 14 KOs) in a six-rounder in September 2017 in Philadelphia. Lingering shoulder soreness, the byproduct of never fully recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder in June 2015, mostly caused Rodriguez’s long layoff.

Now the 2013 national Golden Gloves champion hopes to get back on track and move toward fights against 140-pound contenders.

“I look at it like there’s still work to be done,” said Rodriguez, who’s promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. “But the opportunities are right there for me. I’ve just gotta get back on track, do what I do best and everything else will come.”

While he has his sights set on much bigger fights, merely returning to the ring was important for Rodriguez. The extended time away from boxing motivated him to get where he feels he belongs in boxing.

“I learned what I was made of in these last two years,” Rodriguez said. “I took a long look at my boxing career and my life, so to speak. I have never really had a down time, aside from these last two years. For a long time, I didn’t understand what was going on with me mentally. I wasn’t able to train because my doctors really wanted me to lay low and rest my shoulder. Even if I tried to run, the impact from running would mess up the shoulder.

“So, I packed on some pounds. I didn’t wanna leave my house. I didn’t want even people close to see me, because I would feel ashamed. Once I overcame those things, I feel like I’m unstoppable. I’m on a whole different level now. My whole perception of life changed. I have a more mature mentality now.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.