Tommy Rainone to face George Sosa in Nassau Coliseum return

Tommy Rainone was set to walk away from boxing. He planned on capping off an 11-year boxing career in July with a win at the refurbished Nassau Coliseum.

But a strange thing happened on the way to retirement. Rainone lost a close unanimous decision to Fidel Munoz and what was supposed to be a memorable event turned into a bitter one.

Rainone, 37, gets another chance to leave on his own terms. On Saturday, he returns to the Coliseum to face George Sosa (15-10) in a six-round welterweight bout. The fight is on the undercard of an HBO tripleheader, topped by former WBA middleweight champion Danny Jacobs (32-2) fighting Luis Arias (18-0) in the 12-round main event. Brooklyn heavyweight Jarrell Miller (19-0-1) meets Mariusz Wach (32-2) in the co-feature.

The opening television bout belongs to Shirley’s Cletus Seldin (20-0), who, like Rainone, trains at the Westbury Boxing Club. Seldin fights Mexico’s Roberto Ortiz (35-1-2) in a 10-round junior welterweight bout.

“I’m exrtremely focused, I know I what I have to do out there and I am going to go out there and execute my game plan,” said Rainone, from Plainview. “Getting a win at Nassau Coliseum, putting a good performance at Nassau Coliseum is extremely important to me. It’s something I will always cherish. It didn’t happen the first time around and it was rough waking up the next day.”

Rainone (26-8-1) points to several factors that led to his loss in July. He was without his primary trainer, Jorge Gallardo, for the duration of training camp and had to sweat off seven pounds in a sauna just days before the fight. After the loss, he said he would never fight again.

“I put myself in a dangerous situation,” said Rainone. “I took training for granted. I got complacent.”

Rainone originally was scheduled to fight a rematch with Munoz but that fell out during purse negotiations with Munoz. In stepped Sosa, whose 15 wins have all come by knockout.

“I’d rather be fighting Munoz,” said Rainone, “but the opportunity to once again fight at the Coliseum was too good to pass up.”

In preparation for this fight, Rainone sparred with former world champion Paulie Malignaggi and said he has taken the weight off gradually for this fight. The southpaw knows the end is near and wants a win to close out his career. Since 2006, Rainone has fought at the Blue Horizon, the Garden and Yankee Stadium and traveled to Las Vegas to go 10 rounds with former world champion Ishe Smith.

“There is a good chance this could be my last fight,” said Rainone. “I will not ignore the fact that I am 37. But I feel great. Whatever happens, it’s going to be in my terms.”