Rising strawweight Alex Winwood will look to continue his march toward a title shot when he faces Cris Ganoza at the Metro City, Northbridge, Australia on December 1.

The 26-year-old Australian will be fighting for the first time after breaking his hand and damaging his ligaments in his last fight in June.

He’s now fit and healthy and ready to resume his career.

“I’m very excited to be back in the ring December 1st,” Winwood told The Ring. “Cris Ganoza is coming off a second-round stoppage win, so I know he’s still going to be riding a high from that performance.

“I’ve been making all the adjustments needed for this fight and there’s only a month left, I’ll be primed for a good performance.”

If he is victorious, the hope is that Winwood, who is ranked in the top 15 by all four major sanctioning bodies, will fight a world title eliminator in his next fight before looking to break the legendary Jeff Fenech’s Australian record for winning a world title in his seventh fight.

Winwood (3-0, 2 knockouts) had a stellar amateur career, winning three national titles and representing Australia at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, the delayed 2020 Olympics and the 2022 Commonwealth games.

He turned professional in November 2022 and has moved quickly, scoring wins over Tibo Monabesa (TKO 4) and, most recently, previously unbeaten Reyneris Gutierrez (UD 10) in June.

Ganoza (20-5, 10 KOs) has been a professional since 2014. He won his first 10 fights before losing for the first time against Edward Heno (KO 9) for the Filipino national title at junior flyweight. After returning to winning ways, he narrowly lost to John Michael Zulueta (SD 12) and future world title challenger Ar Ar Andales (UD 10).

The 29-year-old was stopped in his two fights last year against future WBC strawweight titleholder Yudai Shigeoka (TKO 3) and Goki Kobayashi (KO 2). However, he did return with a win over a journeyman in July.

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Australia’s 2020 Olympian Alex Winwood makes the jump to the pros – The Ring (ringtv.com)

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