On October 3, 2015, Antonio Orozco (23-0, 15 KOs) scored a 10-round unanimous decision victory against veteran puncher Humberto Soto (65-9-2, 35 KOs) at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
The scheduled 10-round fight was the co-main event of the 140-pound clash between Lucas Matthysse and Viktor Postol.
Soto, of Los Mochis, Mexico, applied pressure and landed hard shots as both exchanged in the early rounds.
Soto seemed to get a lead in the early rounds, but Orozco began boxing a bit more and landed shots of his own.
Both would land hard in the middle rounds, but Orozco kept dangerously punching at or below the waist line.
As both fighters exchanged hooks to the body, Orozco was warned twice for hitting below the belt.
Round 9, Orozco was deducted a point for hitting Soto below the belt.
For one who thought the fight was close, it might have been an important round. However, the scores suggest that Orozco was still confidently ahead.
Orozco won with scores of 98-91, 97-92, and 97-92, and passed a tough test against a battle-worn veteran.
Soto felt he won the fight, and the many punches landed by in the early rounds—along with the deducted point—gives him reason to object the judges’ decision.
“I think I dominated the fight, the judges, with all due respect scored this fight wrong. The fight was really on my side,” said Soto, who won early rounds with combination punches.
Orozco, on the other hand, was content with a tough victory—one that needed to demonstrate that he could compete with the elite fighters in the 140-pound division.
“I feel great about the win, it has been something we have been working for my entire career,” said Orozco.
“This means that we have stepped it up in competition, and that I am ready for a world title,” said Orozco, whose efforts in his fight may be an indicator of how he will do at the elite level.
