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Antonio Orozco to decide if 140 is in his future Saturday against Gibson

Photo by: Naoki Fukuda
Fighters Network
31
Mar

Antonio Orozco admits there was talk of jumping to 147 pounds.

The worrying episode before his scheduled fight on Dec. 16 — fainting at his home as a result of trying to make 140 pounds and the cancellation of the fight on HBO Latino — was enough to force those involved to reassess his career. Orozco lost his No. 1 WBC ranking and an entry to an eliminator to face titleholder Terence Crawford. A dialogue ensued about his future plans.

Ultimately, Orozco (25-0, 16 knockouts) and his manager Frank Espinoza decided to hire a nutritionist and try to rebuild his credentials at 140. The plan, according to Orozco, is to face Keandre Gibson (16-0-1, 7 KOs) in the main event of a Golden Boy on ESPN2/ESPN Deportes telecast on Saturday and to use the bout to gauge whether to remain at 140 or move up. (The telecast from the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas will also stream on ESPN3.)

“I pushed myself beyond my boundaries,” Orozco told RingTV.com of the dehydration that led to the fainting episode two days before the bout. “And I learned my lesson. We were thinking about 147 but I mean — we didn’t want to make the jump without trying to do it the right way (first).”



He views the bout with Gibson as a way to assess if his future is at 140 or 147. “I know it’s going to be a tough fight,” he said. “This is going to answer a lot of questions.” San Diego’s Orozco was one of several candidates to face Crawford on May 20 at Madison Square Garden, according to Crawford’s promoter, Bob Arum. Orozco claims he never really considered Crawford because of the dates involved. He wanted to fight right away and didn’t want to wait until May.

“We were offered the Gibson fight first,” Orozco said. “What I wanted was to get back into the ring as soon as possible and my team and I committed to this fight on April 1, which is what we’re focused on. When that opportunity comes to focus on that title, we will take it. As for now, I have to worry about this Saturday and then we’ll see what happens.”

The 29-year-old admits it’s the first time he used a nutritionist to help him make weight. He subscribed to an “old school” way of cutting down for previous fights. “It was an unprofessional act on my side,” Orozco said. “I’ve learned my lesson. It’s a chapter that I’ve closed and put behind me. It’s good to move forward. There were a couple missing pieces to the puzzle,” he added. “And we brought them aboard to help us make 140 and we should have no problem this time.”

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