No Weigh-In Issues for Orozco This Time; Weighs 139.6

By Keith Idec, Photos by Gene Blevins/Hoganphotos

Three months after a trip to the emergency room caused an abrupt cancelation of his last fight, Antonio Orozco was able to make the 140-pound limit comfortably Friday.

Orozco weighed in at 139.6 pounds for his televised 10-round fight against Keandre Gibson, who weighed 139.4. Their junior welterweight bout will be broadcast by ESPN2 on Saturday night from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas as the main event of the second installment of Oscar De La Hoya’s “Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN” series.

The delayed telecast is scheduled to start at 11 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. PT. The doubleheader will air live on ESPN Deportes at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Before the main event between San Diego’s Orozco (25-0, 16 KOs) and St. Louis’ Gibson (16-0-1, 7 KOs), the co-featured fight will pit the Philippines’ Mercito Gesta (29-1-2, 16 KOs) against Mexico’s Gilberto Gonzalez (26-3, 22 KOs) in a 10-round lightweight bout.

Gesta weighed in at 133.6 pounds Friday, less than Gonzalez (134.2).

The 29-year-old Orozco, meanwhile, will learn based on how he performs Saturday night if he’ll remain at 140 pounds or move up to 147. The junior welterweight contender nearly moved up following a December incident in which he fainted the day he was supposed to weigh-in for a televised fight against Fidel Maldonado Jr. (22-3-1, 19 KOs, 1 NC).

Orozco’s trainer, Carlos Barragan, took the dehydrated boxer to the emergency room December 15 and the Maldanado match, which was supposed to be televised by HBO Latino on December 16, was canceled. Orozco told BoxingScene.com earlier this week that hiring a nutritionist for the first time in his career helped him make weight properly for this fight.

The 27-year-old Gibson also had to get down to 140 pounds for the first time since March 2014. His official weight Friday was the lowest of his six-year pro career.

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