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Antonio Orozco, Jermall Charlo on Keith Thurman-Julio Diaz undercard

Fighters Network
24
Apr

On Saturday, unbeaten junior welterweight Antonio Orozco will face Martin Honorio; junior middleweight Jermall Charlo squares off against Hector Munoz and, time-permitting, Brazilian 2012 Olympian Yamaguchi Falcao will be televised on Showtime Extreme starting at 7 p.m. ET/PT on Saturday from StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

The three bouts are part of an undercard that will precede the Showtime tripleheader headlined by welterweight Keith Thurman against Julio Diaz and supported by RING number one-rated junior welterweight Lucas Matthysse versus John Molina and WBC lightweight titleholder Omar Figueroa Jr. opposite Jerry Belmontes.

The Thurman-Diaz card will follow the 9 p.m., ET/6 p.m., PT broadcast of the second of four 30-minute episodes of All Access: Mayweather vs. Maidana in advance of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s May 3 defense of his RING and WBC welterweight championships against WBA counterpart Marcos Maidana on Showtime Pay-Per-View from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Nicknamed,"Relentless," the 26-year-old Orozco (19-0, 15 knockouts) will be after his eighth consecutive stoppage win against the 34-year-old Honorio (32-8-1, 16 KOs), a former title challenger who has lost his past two fights by majority and unanimous decision to former titleholder Juan Carlos Salgado and Argenis Mendez in April and July 2012, respectively. Orozco was last in the ring for January's second-round knockout of Miguel Angel Huerta.



The 23-year-old Charlo (17-0, 13 KOs), twin brother of 145-pounder Jermell Charlo (23-0, 11 KOs), will be after his 12th consecutive knockout victory against Hector Munoz (22-12-1, 14 KOs), a 35-year-old who has lost three of his past four fights.

Charlo was last in the ring for a fifth-round stoppage of Joseph De los Santos in December while Munoz was knocked out in the third round by Ronald Cruz in November.

Charlo was slated to face IBF titleholder Carlos Molina last month until Molina was arrested five days prior to the fight, which was canceled.

"Ever since my world title fight fell through, it's been back to square one for me. But that's part of boxing and I'm learning from it. I'm still young and this is part of my job. As bad as I wanted it, it came and went," said Charlo.

"I know I'm gonna get my world title shot sooner or later. They can’t keep dodging me forever. I've been training and I'm just excited to be fighting again. I'm hungrier than ever and feel I'm at the top of my game. I set a goal to be a world champion and that is still my goal but I am starting all over again."

Falcao will fight Carlos Badaldua, the latter of whom will be in his pro debut. Falcao will be in his second pro fight, having been involved in a ruled no-contest in January after he and rival Martin Fidel Rios (11-0-2, 5 KOs) were mutually disqualified for repeated fouls.

"I cannot tell you how excited I am about fighting. I really want to show the world and my country, Brazil, that the Yamaguchi they saw in my debut on Jan. 25 in Brazil was not me. The fight ended in a no-contest and it was very, very disappointing. It was not good for me and I felt terrible about what happened. That’s why I am so looking forward to Saturday. After winning a bronze medal and my brother [Esquiva] a silver, we came back and were treated like heroes," said Falcao.

"My first fight was supposed to be all about me, like a coming out party. I was in the main event, an eight-rounder. The buildup was great. I won the first three rounds but in the fourth round, my opponent spit on me. I raised my hands up in the air in front of my face, like, 'What the heck was that all about?' Then the referee stepped in and my opponent spit on him too. The ref then sent us to a neutral corner. Then he disqualified us both and the fight was ruled a no-contest. I was so embarrassed."

Other bouts will feature welterweight Frankie Gomez (16-0, 12 KOs), 2012 U.S. Olympian Joseph "JoJo" Diaz Jr. (9-0, 7 KOs) in a junior featherweight bout, 2012 Olympian Terrell Gausha (8-0, 5 KOs) in a junior middleweight fight and lightweight Sharif Bogere (23-1, 15 KOs), who was last in the ring for a unanimous decision loss to WBA titleholder Richar Abril in March 2013.

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