Junior welterweight contender Antonio Orozco will face Fidel Maldonado on Dec. 16 at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, Golden Boy Promotions announced on Monday.

The scheduled 10-round bout has been added to a stellar HBO Latino broadcast headlined by a light heavyweight contender clash between Vyacheslav Shabranskyy and Sullivan Barrera. In the opening televised bout, welterweight standout Eddie Gomez will face unbeaten prospect Rashidi Ellis in a 10-round bout.

Orozco (25-0, 16 knockouts) has developed into a top-10 rated 140 pounder since signing with Golden Boy in 2010. The San Diego resident has scored impressive wins over Emmanuel Taylor, Humberto Soto, and Miguel Acosta. In his last bout on July 30, Orozco, who is managed by Frank Espinoza, won a hard-fought 10-round decision over Abner Lopez.

Orozco, who is the mandatory challenger to Terence Crawford’s WBC junior welterweight title, is THE RING’s No. 4-rated contender.

“My dream of becoming a world champion is getting closer and closer,” said Orozco in a media release. “I am confident I will keep my undefeated streak alive against Fidel Maldonado Jr.

“Fidel doesn’t know how to take a step backwards. Anyone who knows my style knows that I don’t either. Fans should expect fireworks.”

Maldonado (22-3-1, 19 KOs) is unbeaten in his last four bouts since his thrilling KO loss to Amir Imam last January.

Maldonado, who resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, stopped Gerardo Guevas in the third round of a stay-busy fight on July 9. Prior to the Cuevas fight, the southpaw fought to a split-decision draw against fringe contender Art Hovhannisyan on May 20.

On the undercard, featherweight contender Ronny Rios (26-1, 11 KOs) will face Roy Tapia (12-1-2, 6 KOs) in a 10-round bout that will air live on RingTVLive.com (along with the rest of the Golden Boy Promotions show).

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 (Calif.) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing