By Francisco Salazar

Tonight’s main event bout between Antonio Orozco and KeAndre Gibson is a crossroads bout between an unbeaten fighter and an ….. unbeaten fighter.

It is not an unbeaten fighter against a veteran fighter or two fringe contenders hoping to grasp one big pay day on a premium network.

The clash between Orozco and Gibson tonight at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas has major implications for both fighters.

ESPN Deportes, along with ESPN3 and WatchESPN, will air the light live, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT. ESPN2 will air the tape-delay broadcast, beginning at 11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT.

Orozco (25-0, 16 KOs) was scheduled to fight Fidel Maldonado on December 16, but withdrew from the fight due to dehydration issues, allegedly fainting the day of the weigh-in.

The 29-year-old Orozco has been mentioned as a possible opponent for WBC/ WBO World junior welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford. Orozco was at one time the WBC mandatory challenger.

Orozco, who is managed by Frank Espinoza, is considered one of Golden Boy’s top unbeaten fighters. His best win on paper was a unanimous decision over Humberto Soto, but struggled in his last bout on July 30, grinding out a close decision win over Abner Lopez.

Despite facing the better opposition, Orozco is not overlooking the younger Gibson.

“For me, this fight is very important,” said Orozco earlier this week. “I did not take it lightly as I know it is against KeAndre Gibson, a good fighter in this division.”

“Gibson and I have fought on the same (Golden Boy Promotions) cards before. He’s a tremendous fighter, a quick guy, and real good counterpuncher.”

Gibson (16-0-1, 7 KOs) may not be as well-known to many boxing fans as Orozco, having fought on a handful of times on television. In his last bout on November 18, Gibson won an eight round unanimous decision over Mahonry Montes.

The 27-year-old Gibson, who is originally from Saint Louis and now lives and trains in Las Vegas, believes he has the tools to defeat Orozco and become a world titleholder.

“My goal is a WBC world championship title, but right now my focus is on defeating Antonio Orozco, said Gibson. “Obviously the hope is to knock him out in the first round and get it done early, but I’m fully prepared to go to war and put on a good fight.”

“I’ve been studying Orozco for a while now because I knew he was one of the top guys in my division. He hasn’t really fought slick guys like me. I feel like I’m more prepared for him than he is for me.”

With a lot on the line, both fighters will come out swinging. If the fight is tactical, it would be early on before the fight finds a rhythm in the second half, providing solid exchanges between the two fighters.

With the fight airing on multiple ESPN channels, Gibson would want to make a statement, considering he is the underdog in the fight and would want to leave an impression on the boxing fan tuning in.

This is a more of an even fight, as both stand in the pocket and throw combinations. Not to mention, the network is counting on Golden Boy Promotions to provide quality content to those tuning in.

Orozco agrees.

“I want to give the fans an entertaining fight. Fans want to see a little bit of everything, and I want to give them what they want.”

Opening the ESPN broadcast will be a 10 round bout between lightweights Mercito Gesta (29-1-2, 16 KOs) and Gilberto Gonzalez (26-3, 22 KOs).

Unbeaten featherweight Joet Gonzalez (15-0, 7 KOs) will square off against Derrick Murray (13-1-1, 5 KOs) in an eight round bout.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing