Guillermo Rigondeaux will make his return from a long layoff, as he is set to collide with Filipino contender Drian Francisco in a non-title bout on Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The Rigondeaux-Francisco bout was added to the undercard of the highly anticipated showdown between superstars Miguel Cotto and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

Rigondeaux, who holds a perfect 15-0 record with 10 knockouts, has not fought since scoring an 11th-round stoppage win against Hisashi Amagasa in December last year. The 35-year-old Cuban was recently stripped off his super bantamweight belts due to inactivity, but has been training for a possible fight over the past several weeks.

The two-time Olympic champion was added to the card after signing a contract with Roc Nation Sports, who also struck a deal with Cotto earlier this year.

"I'd like to thank Roc Nation Sports, as well as Golden Boy Promotions, Miguel Cotto Promotions, Canelo Promotions, HBO, and Caribe Promotions for giving me the opportunity to be on one of the most anticipated pay-per-view cards of the year," Rigondeaux said via ESPN. "This is a great platform to take my career to the next level."

On the other hand, Francisco, who has a 28-3-1 record with 21 knockout victories, was supposed to face Danilo Pena in the Philippines last Friday but had to withdraw from the fight after being informed that he could be pitted against Rigondeaux in one of the undercards of the Cotto-Canelo showdown.

Francisco, who is coming off a first-round knockout win against Jilo Merlin in September, has not fought outside of the Philippines since his third-round stoppage victory against Manuel Herrera in August last year.

The former interim World Boxing Association super flyweight champion, will be a heavy underdog against Rigondeaux. The 33-year-old knows he is facing tall odds on Saturday, but he believes he has what it takes to beat Rigondeaux, who is considered as the fifth-best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

Francisco said that he is familiar with Rigondeaux because he saw how the Cuban defeated former world champion Nonito Donaire Jr. in 2013.

"After seeing him beat Nonito, I told myself that I can do this," Francisco told Ring TV. "It's also my dream fight. All boxers, their greatest goal is to have a fight for a world championship. So I'm not going to let this pass me by. I'm going to do everything I can to win. I have been thinking about it for a long time on how I'm going to beat him."