The Manchester resident has not boxed since his failed bid for the British and Commonwealth super-featherweight titles in February last year.

That night he was dropped twice before eventually retiring one second into the 10th round at the hands of dominant champion Reece Bellotti.

Gomez (21-2, 6 KOs) was supposed to return from that loss in July in a scheduled Manchester derby with Aqib Fiaz only for a hand injury sustained in sparring to derail not only his comeback plans but his career in general.

“It happened two weeks before the fight,” he tells The Ring. “I hit someone on top of the head and it felt like a severe burn. I knew something was badly wrong.

“I thought it would be alright but it got to the point where I couldn’t even get my hand in a boxing glove. It wasn’t one of those injuries where you can just get a little injection and then crack on. Trust me, we tried.

“We had no choice but to get surgery so it means I’ve been out for ages.”

By Saturday night it will be one year, one month and 11 days out of the ring for Gomez, who wondered if he would ever box again at times during his rehabilitation.

But he is looking forward to closing that chapter of his life when he faces Flynn at Co-op Live Arena on the undercard of the Queensberry event headlined by Moses Itauma's clash with Jermaine Franklin.

“It has been the worst year of my career,” he says. “Going from such a bad performance into such a bad injury two weeks before the next fight ... you’re just in a dark place.

“The specialist had said the procedure might not work or that my hand might never be the same again. So you just think ‘if this is the end, that’s not how I want to go out.’

“But I’m one of those people where if you tell me there’s a chance something won’t work, I’m going to prove you wrong. I knew that my last performance just wasn’t me so I had a point to prove and I had to get back to do it.”

Many others would have chosen a more low-key return after such a long lay-off but Gomez Jr decided against a tune-up against a no-hoper in favour of a high-stakes domestic clash with Buddy McGirt-trained Flynn (13-1-1, 2 KOs).

“What good is beating a road-sweeper who isn’t going to fight back for six rounds or less?” Gomez says.

“That’s not going to prove anything to myself or to anyone else. I wanted a real fight against a real opponent and that’s what Jordan Flynn is.

“He has had two decent fights in his career. The one against Kane Baker, where he drew, and then one against Cameron Vuong, which he lost. So I think if he loses this one, he is pretty screwed as well.

“That’s why I feel like this is going to be a dogfight and whoever wants it more will come out on top.”

Gomez puts much of his struggles against Bellotti down to his ever-painful weight cut. But after going "to the well" one too many times, the career junior-lightweight has now decided to step up to 135 pounds.

He said: “At my old weight there was always something in my body that was just knackered every day.

“I had a spar one day and my opponent literally pushed me with his glove and my ankle gave way and swelled up. My body was just completely broken down. Whether it was my back, my Achilles, my knees. One week I’d do sprints but then the next I couldn’t sprint anymore so I’d have to swim.

“But I just kept saying that I’ll be alright, I’ll be alright but it was one too many times at the well. I don’t think my team would let me box down there again.

“I haven’t had an injury this camp so now I’m raring to go. I just can't wait for that first bell to ring and to just let off, mate. It has been a long year for me but now I’ve got a chance to put things right."