Almost a year to the day since his last fight, fringe heavyweight contender Chazz Witherspoon will return to the ring Saturday night.

He’ll face Mike Marrone in an eight-round bout at the Grundy Arena in Bristol, Pennsylvania. The 34-year-old Witherspoon, who has a degree from St. Joseph’s University, is co-promoting the card.

In his last bout on Aug. 15 of last year, Witherspoon stopped Nick Guivas in the third round. He has won his last four bouts and could be a win or two away from cracking the top 10 of the major sanctioning bodies.

“I am waiting for the right opportunity,” said Witherspoon (34-3, 26 knockouts), whose three losses came against Chris Arreola, Tony Thompson and Seth Mitchell. “It has to make sense. I am willing to take stay-busy fights and continue to hone my craft.

“I think the division is exciting again. Different guys have belts and all roads do not lead to one person. I know I will fit somewhere in there when I get a shot at one of these titles.”

Marrone (21-5, 15 KOs) began his pro career with 18 consecutive wins, but has lost five of his last eight bouts. He was knocked out in the second round by Shannon Briggs in his last fight, on Sept. 5.

Despite Marrone’s recent string of fights, Witherspoon expects a tough fight.

“I know he will come to fight,” said Witherspoon. “He won’t lay down and I am expecting a good fight.”

In the co-feature, junior welterweight Emmanuel Taylor (19-4, 13 KOs) will face Carlos Aguilera (10-17, 4 KOs) in an eight round bout.

Taylor scored a knockout win over Wilfredo Acuna on Feb. 27 after losing back-to-back fights to Adrien Broner and Antonio Orozco.

Two fighters from Philadelphia will fight in separate four-round bouts.

Samuel Teah (7-1, 2 KOs) will face veteran Samuel Amoako (21-12, 15 KOs) in junior welterweight action.

Former amateur standout Jaron Ennis (4-0, 4 KOs), a welterweight, will square off against Matthew Murphy (1-3-1, 1 KO).

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.