Even though the anticipated Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse vs Viktor Postol match up for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title is the main event of the October 3rd HBO telecast from the StubHub Center I’m Carson, CA, the fight that might steal the show is Humberto “Zorrita” Soto against Antonio “Relentless” Orozco in the semi-main event. That is big statement considering Matthysse is known to be an all-action fighter no matter who he steps into the ring with.
The Soto-Orozco face off is the classic match-up of grizzled veteran against the young upcoming lion. In boxing, it is one of the most traditional scenarios, up there with the Mexico vs Puerto Rico rivalry or the boxer vs. the slugger. Even though we have seen the pairing a dozen if not hundreds of times before, it doesn’t make it less intriguing.
With over seventy professional fights under his belt, the thirty-five year old Soto from Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, fits the bill of the experienced veteran to a T. As the story goes, a young Soto was matched up against an out of town fighter early in his career in a fight in his hometown. Soto lost that fight but the manager of the opposing player was so impressed by Soto’s chutzpah, that he bought off his contract right then and there from Soto’s alcoholic manager. With a better supporting team, Soto began to rise in the ranks.
He captured the interim WBC 126lb title in an upset over Rocky Juarez back in ’05 and in ’08 he grabbed the 130-pound title of the same organization. With a win over David Diaz in ’10, Soto was crowned the WBC lightweight champion and the bell began to ring for a fight for him against Manny Pacquiao. It never happened. In 2011 Soto jumped up to the light welterweight division but was routinely stopped by Matthysse in five rounds. Soto stayed in the weight class but against much softer opposition. He made his comeback to the semi-elite last year with a dominating win over John Molina Jr. With the win he earned another shot on HBO and after some hiccups and injuries he finally got it.
Across the ring he will find a much younger twenty-seven year old Orozco in the biggest fight of his life. Managed by the well-renowned Frank Espinoza Orozco has been carefully brought up the ranks with the right kind of fights. With only 22 fights in his professional record, all won with fifteen inside the distance, Orozco is ready for the limelight.
Orozco’s biggest win to date could be toss-up between veteran Steve Forbes or Emmanuel Taylor. Orozco looked much better against Taylor and that is the type of rhythm and pace he needs to set for Soto. Orozco needs to dictate the fight because if he lets Soto do it, he will fall into the boxing trance “Zorrita” was able to spell over Molina Jr. They don’t call him the “sly little fox” for nothing. If Orozco can maintain his stamina into the later rounds, you can probably expect a late stoppage of Soto because of Orozco’s strength. You read it here first, folks!
