By Steve Kim

On Saturday night from the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, a match-up of two undefeated junior welterweights takes place on ESP2, when Antonio Orozco (25-0, 16 KO's) takes on Keandre Gibson (16-0-1, 7 KO's).

For Orozco it's a stern test to begin 2017 after having to pull out of his December appointment versus Fidel Maldonado after not being able to make weight and falling ill.

"For what I've seen of Keandre, we've shared cards on a couple of occasions , he's an explosive, quick fighter," Orozco said of his upcoming foe. "With every fight we want to get somebody better. This is probably one of the best fights to start off the year for my career and definitely I'm not over-looking the guy. We know that he brings all the elements: speed, strength, movement. So we're ready."

For Orozco, 2017 could be the year where he makes a run at the junior welterweight title.

"This has to be it, my career, like I've always said, I'm never in a rush,"said the 29-year old native of Garden  City, Kansas who know resides in San Diego."The time will come but definitely we're on the doorstep, we're just waiting but Keandre Gibson's first and we have to make sure we take care of this."

Hoping to make air time before the co-main event between Mercito "No Mercy"Gesta (29-1-2, 16 KOs) and Gilberto "El Flaco" Gonzalez (27-3, 22 KOs), Los Angeles' Edgar Valerio (9-0, 5 KOs) will participate in the televised swing bout of the night in a featherweight fight. Valerio comes back off a spectacular knockout victory from last December over Guadalupe Leon at the Belasco Theater and is looking to do the same in this upcoming bout.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.