By Lyle Fitzsimmons

Nick Casal is by no means a rookie.

He’s been a highly-regarded prospect. He’s fought several times in Las Vegas.

He’s appeared on undercards beneath decorated world champions.

But the reality is that all of those things happened while he was 25 years old or younger.

And now that he’s seven months from turning 31, he’s keenly aware of his biological clock.

“I think about it from time to time,” he said. “Some of these guys fighting for titles is where I should be. It gives me motivation to work hard and get back there.”

A half-decade’s worth of motivation, you might say.

The Niagara Falls, N.Y. native will end a 1,686-day ring hiatus on Friday night in his hometown, where he’ll meet Massachusetts-based trial horse Antonio Fernandez in a scheduled welterweight six-rounder at the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino.

Fernandez has won just seven times in 37 fights. But the quality of the opposition isn’t a concern.

Rather, the main objective of the evening is simply to get Casal back to where he’s comfortable.

He last fought on Oct. 15, 2011, when he stopped previously unbeaten Michael Anderson in three rounds on the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

From there, he was scheduled for an ESPN main event with a then-unheralded Ruslan Provodnikov in June 2012. But while the “Siberian Rocky” wound up parlaying an early-summer victory against a replacement into a career-catapulting date with Timothy Bradley, Casal was busy fighting for his life.

He was the victim of a brutal attack a month before the Provodnikov match, in which the ex-boyfriend of a woman he’d been visiting beat him so severely with a blunt object that he required hundreds of stitches and staples just to manage the damage.

The attacker, Michael Vicki, got a five-year prison sentence a year later.

Casal, meanwhile, put his career on hold as his body mended, and has since seen a few possibilities for a return put off by various conflicts and cancellations. But, he insists, the desire never waned.

“I never left the gym,” he said. “Kept training and sparring. I’ve been boxing since I was 5 years old. I don’t think the time off hurt at all.”

And now that the return is a matter of hours, the familiar vibes are back, too.

“It feels good,” he said. “I had a good camp. Excited to be fighting. I don’t really feel any different physically. Mentally, I feel I’m a smarter, more complete fighter now. Everyone has their ups and downs. I’m 100-percent focused on my boxing career.”

It’ll actually be his debut outing in front of a hometown crowd, too.

Casal fought twice in nearby Buffalo in 2009, and another time in Hamburg – about 13 miles south – in 2011, but never in the vicinity of the world’s most famous waterfall. He attended Niagara Falls and Niagara-Wheatfield high schools and is trained by his locally-bred father, while leaving the business end of things to Florida-based adviser Matt Yanofsky and New York City-based promoter Greg Cohen.

“I’m pumped to fight in front of my fans,” Casal said. 

The fight will be part of a card broadcast by CBS Sports Network, which means a particularly memorable performance could help him make up for five years of lost advancement time.

“I would like to be in some big fights this time next year,” he said. “I feel I have a great team behind me that can make that happen.”

Yanofsky, who serves as CEO of Knockout Publicity, agreed.

“We're honestly going to see how he looks on Friday and go from there,” he said.

“One thing fight fans will remember is that Nick is a warrior and makes great fights. He wears his heart on his sleeve and that's a trait he's had since day one.”

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This week's title-fight schedule:

WEDNESDAY
IBF flyweight title -- Beijing, China
Amnat Ruenroeng (champion/No. 3 IWBR) vs. John Riel Casimero (No. 1 IBF/No. 9 IWBR)
Ruenroeng (17-0, 5 KO): Sixth title defense; Defeated Casimero (UD 12) in June 2015
Casimero (21-3, 13 KO): Seventh title fight (4-2); Has not fought since losing to Ruenroeng
Fitzbitz says: The first fight between the two, on Ruenroeng’s turf, was filled with fouls. The second fight is in neutral territory and should be the difference in putting the challenger over. Casimero by decision

SATURDAY
Vacant WBA super lightweight title -- Glasgow, Scotland
Michele Di Rocco (No. 1 WBA/No. 8 IWBR) vs. Ricky Burns (No. 7 WBA/Unranked IWBR)
Di Rocco (40-1-1, 18 KO): First title fight; Second fight outside Italy (1-0, 0 KO)
Burns (39-5-1, 13 KO): Tenth title fight (7-1-1); Former WBO champ at 130, 135 pounds
Fitzbitz says: Burns has struggled against the best of the 135-pound ranks, but he’s moved up a division and is at home while fighting a guy who rarely travels. Will it be enough? I say no. Di Rocco by decision

WBO junior flyweight title -- Bacolod City, Philippines
Donnie Nietes (champion/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Raul Garcia (No. 4 WBO/Unranked IWBR)
Nietes (37-1-4, 21 KO): Ninth title defense; Unbeaten for 12 years (26-0-3, 13 KO)
Garcia (38-3-1, 23 KO): Ninth title fight (6-2); Two-time champion (IBF/WBO) at 105 pounds
Fitzbitz says: The champion is 34 years old and has been a pro for 13 years, but he shows zero signs of slowing down. In fact, he may be improving. And even against a good foe, that works. Nietes by decision

SUNDAY
Vacant WBC cruiserweight title -- Liverpool, United Kingdom
Ilunga Makabu (No. 1 WBC/No. 5 IWBR) vs. Tony Bellew (No. 6 WBC/No. 6 IWBR)
Makabu (19-1, 18 KO): First title fight; One fight in last 18 months (1-0, 1 KO)
Bellew (26-2-1, 16 KO): Third title fight (0-2); Unbeaten above 190 pounds (6-0, 4 KO)
Fitzbitz says: The Congo native has far more experience against foes nearer the 200-pound weight limit, but he’s not been on the stages Bellew has seen. Let’s say that matters in a slugfest. Bellew in 8

Last week’s picks: 5-0 (WIN: Lebedev, Charlo, Salamov, Lara, Charlo)
2016 picks record: 37-8 (82.2 percent)
Overall picks record: 769-256 (75.0 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.