By Keith Idec

Antonio Orzoco’s body shut down.

That’s the best way Orozco can describe what happened to him the morning of December 15. The junior welterweight contender had tried to get down to 140 pounds in such an unhealthy way, he fainted and had to be taken to the emergency room by his trainer, Carlos Barragan.

A severely dehydrated Orozco had to pull out of his December 16 fight against Fidel Maldonado Jr. several hours before they were supposed to weigh in. The scheduled 10-round bout between San Diego’s Orozco (25-0, 16 KOs) and Maldonado (22-3-1, 19 KOs, 1 NC), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was to be televised by HBO Latino from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

“I exceeded my limits,” Orozco told BoxingScene.com. “I pushed myself a little bit too hard to make sure I made 140, and I paid the consequences. I regret it. It was an unprofessional act from my side. It was a disappointment. I let down my team and I let everyone down. It was embarrassing above all. But it was a lesson well-learned, and here we are now. We’re ready to come back and make a statement.”

The 29-year-old Orozco will attempt to make that statement Saturday night, when he is scheduled to face St. Louis native Keandre Gibson (16-0-1, 7 KOs) at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. Their 10-round main event will be televised on tape delay by ESPN2 as part of the “Golden Boy Boxing On ESPN” series at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.

The contract weight for the Gibson fight is 140 pounds, the same weight at which Orozco was supposed to box Maldonado. Orozco thought about moving up to 147 pounds after his weight scare three months ago, but decided to hire a nutritionist to help him make weight in safer, smarter ways.

“It was taken into consideration,” Orozco said of moving up, “but we wanted to make sure that it definitely was not possible without first bringing in a nutritionist – that this is what they do. And so far, things have been going good.”

Orozco feels stronger and healthier this week than he did during the week leading up to the Maldonado match. Looking back, Orozco knows it wasn’t wise to lose weight without the help of professionals.

“My body kind of shut down,” Orozco said. “It was a pretty bad experience. I kind of got scolded by the nurses [at the hospital]. It wasn’t too good.

“You know, it was really eye-opening. I’m a firm believer in things happening for a reason. I think we found an answer by bringing on a nutritionist. We’re just following step-by-step what needs to be done, and so far it’s been great. The performance during training camp has been great and we’re really looking forward to Saturday night.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.