Humberto Soto-Antonio Orozco Set as Matthysse-Postol Co-Main Event

The October 3 HBO Boxing After Dark card was already intriguing with Lucas Matthysse taking on Viktor Postol in the main event. HBO early on Wednesday that filling in the co-featured slot will be a super lightweight duel between Humberto Soto and Antonio Orozco.

The Soto-Orozco will be a 10-round affair in what should be the prototypical crossroads fight. Soto, a native of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, has seen it all in his 18-year professional career, and the world will see if “La Zorrita” has one last push in him before he hangs up his gloves for good. Orozco, on the other hand, looks sensational thus far in his career and he’s one of the sport’s hottest young contenders in the lower weight classes; Soto poses by far the stiffest test of his life.

Soto (65-8-2, 35 KOs) has captured world titles in three weight classes and has taken on a who’s-who of the featherweight through junior welterweight divisions. Soto won the “interim” WBC featherweight title in 2005 by toppling Rocky Juarez over 12 rounds before dropping a unanimous decision to Joan Guzman for the WBO super featherweight crown two years later. Soto would finally capture a legitimate world title the next year when he decisioned Francisco Lorenzo for the WBC 130-pound strap and defended it three times. The veteran eventually moved up to lightweight where he snatched the WBC 135-pound belt by out-pointing David Diaz in 2010 and defended it four times.

Humberto’s experience against top-flight competition speaks for itself, which will likely prove to be the deciding factor against Orozco if it comes down to that. Soto holds wins over such opposition like Jesus Chavez, Urbano Antillon, Juan Carlos Abreu and many other; he’s also come up short against former world champs Kevin Kelley and Matthysse and has been stopped only twice in 75 pro scraps. He’s on a seven-fight winning streak, with his most recent win coming against former titlist John Molina Jr. last September.

What Orozco lacks in overall experience, he makes up for in youth and speed. Born in Tecate, B.C., Mexico but living and training out of San Diego, Orozco (22-0, 15 KOs) appears to have all the tools to become a world champion. After compiling a ton of wins against regional foes south of the border, Orozco stepped up his level of competition and has excelled thus far. He’s already conquered quality veterans Ivan Hernandez and Martin Honorio as well as former world champ Steve Forbes.

The televised portion of the card will air live on HBO at 10:15 p.m. ET/7:15 p.m. PT. The event will be held inside the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. Tickets are on sale now and range in price from $25-150.