By Keith Idec

When Keandre Gibson was 8-0-1, he thought that his next opponent would be Terence Crawford.

Gibson and Crawford, who had almost twice as many pro fights as Gibson at that time, both were promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. Gibson signed his contract, but the fight didn’t happen.

“He turned me down because he was saying he wanted to fight someone that was more experienced,” Gibson told BoxingScene.com. “There’s definitely some unfinished business with me and Terence Crawford, I feel.”

Finally fighting Crawford is among many motivating factors for Gibson as he heads toward the biggest fight of his career Saturday night. If the St. Louis native can beat undefeated junior welterweight contender Antonio Orozco in their televised 10-round fight in Las Vegas, it’ll transform Gibson from an unproven prospect into a legitimate threat at 140 pounds.

Orozco was the WBC’s No. 1-ranked contender for Crawford’s super lightweight championship prior to the weight-related cancelation of his December 16 fight against Fidel Maldonado Jr. The WBC has since moved Orozco into its welterweight rankings, but he’s still rated No. 4 by the WBO at 140 pounds.

As far as the unknown Gibson (16-0-1, 7 KOs) might seem from facing Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), getting a shot at the best boxer in their weight class suddenly would become a realistic goal if the Las Vegas resident can overcome Orozco (25-0, 16 KOs) in the main event of ESPN2’s delayed telecast from The Cosmopolitan (11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT).

“He has had a great career,” Gibson said regarding Crawford. “I feel like a win over Orozco and two or three more solid wins with guys that are 10-to-12-round fighters, that I’ll be ready for Terence. It’d be a hell of a fight. I can’t say we’re enemies or nothing, but I know just because that fight was supposed to have been made, I know there’s a little bad blood there, just knowing that I was willing to step up and face him.

“I know he feels some type of way because I have friends that are friends with him, and they tell me he feels some type of way about it. But I’m not overlooking Orozco in any type of way. I know Orozco’s gonna come to fight. He’s got a family to take care of, just like I’ve got a family to take care of. So at the end of the day, I’m focused on what’s in front of me. And what’s in front of me is Antonio.”

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Orozco has plenty to prove Saturday night as well.

The San Diego resident has beaten better competition than Gibson during his nine-year pro career, but the cancelation of the Maldonado match raises serious questions about how much Orozco takes out of his body by making 140 pounds. His trainer, Carlos Barragan, took Orozco to the emergency room after he fainted the day he was supposed to weigh in for the Maldonado fight, which was supposed to be televised by HBO Latino.

Orozco considered moving up to welterweight following that December debacle, but instead hired a nutritionist he says has helped him drop weight much more comfortably for this fight. Gibson hasn’t had to weigh in at the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds for any of his past seven bouts, yet he, too, is certain he has had his best training camp since he turned pro in October 2010.

The 27-year-old Gibson learned precisely how championship camps are run from the time he spent serving as a primary sparring partner for Canelo Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao. Alvarez’s camp for his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. was an especially eye-opening experience for Gibson.

“Being in camp with Canelo helped me really get to the point where I’m thinking and using my head when I’m boxing and sparring,” Gibson said. “When I was in camp with him for Floyd Mayweather, he was hurting all the guys he was sparring with and I was the only guy that was able to stay there with him the whole camp.

“It was hard for him to get sparring partners up there [in Big Bear, California], so I had to spar Canelo by myself for two weeks. That gave me a lot of experience and a lot of confidence to know where I was at in boxing. I knew if I could go toe-to-toe with one of the top guys in boxing, not just one of the top guys in that weight class, I knew that I could go forward, too, if I just had that same preparation that Canelo has for his fights.”

Gibson hired a nutritionist, strength and conditioning coach and sparring partners of his own for the Orozco bout because he knows it’s one he must win if he is to realize the potential he first displayed as an amateur on the South Side of St. Louis. Before he moved to Las Vegas, Gibson fought out of the 12th & Park Recreation Center, the same boxing gym in a St. Louis housing project that produced former heavyweight champions Leon Spinks and Michael Spinks and onetime junior middleweight contender Deandre Latimore, Gibson’s cousin.

Gibson’s four children, who range in age from 3 to 10, give him every incentive he needs to begin making his own mark in this sport. Orozco clearly is the more known fighter, as well as a slight favorite.

Gibson, however, is looking forward to making boxing fans take notice in his first 10-round fight, the main event of the second installment of Oscar De La Hoya’s “Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN” series.

“He’s a good fighter,” Gibson said of Orozco. “He’s a fighter I’ve had on my radar for a minute. I always looked at him. I always knew I was gonna fight him one day. I didn’t know it was gonna come this soon, but I knew I would fight him one day because he’s around the same weight class I am. I knew I was either gonna fight him at 140 or 147. He’s definitely a solid fighter. He’s a good fighter in the game. He has a couple of good wins.

“But at the end of the day, I feel like I’m more prepared for him than he is for me. Why I say that is I’ve fought a lot of tough fighters that happen to have the Mexican style. He hasn’t fought that many slick, fast, counter-punching boxers. He probably fought one, and that was Stevie Forbes. And we all know he fought an old Stevie Forbes. So Saturday night, I’m definitely looking to expose him.”

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