At the age of 30, Antonio is a 10-year pro. A contender at 140 pounds – ranked No. 3 by the WBC – he had a good amateur career before his debut.
He is a stablemate of WBO featherweight world champion Oscar Valdez and former WBO junior featherweight champion Jessie Magdaleno – all are managed by Frank Espinoza and trained by Manny Robles Jr.
Antonio has made impressive progress as a pro and climbed in the world rankings – he has taken significant steps up in class of opposition and given solid performances. He won a 10-round unanimous decision against Emanuel Taylor in May, 2015, and followed that with a 10-round unanimous decision win against former two-division world champion Humberto Soto in October, 2015. More recently in September, 2017, Antonio scored a spectacular one-punch knockout in the fourth round against previously undefeated prospect KeAndre Gibson.
In his last fight on March 16, 2018, in Los Angeles, Antonio won an eight-round unanimous decision in the rematch against Martin Honorio.
Fightnews.com’s Miguel Maravilla reported from ringside [excerpts]: Undefeated super lightweight contender Antonio Orozco of San Diego won an eight round unanimous decision over Mexican veteran Martin Honorio at the Belasco Theater.
Orozco boxed from the start, picking his spots and landing well on Honorio. Attacking in round three, Orozco mixed it up with one-two combos and digging downstairs to Honorio’s body. Despite getting outworked, Honorio pressed on as Orozco boxed and countered.
Beginning to land heavy punches in round six, Orozco continued to box patiently. Keeping his distance and boxing in round seven, Orozco continued to outwork the tough Honorio. Orozco closed strong, but Honorio stood his ground despite getting roughed up. All three judges scored the bout 79-73. [End Maravilla item]
In his post-fight interview, Antonio said, “I wanted to change my style a bit, so I boxed more. People aren’t used to seeing me do that. Having Manny Robles as my new trainer has helped a lot, and I demonstrated that by making 140 easy.”
In earlier interviews, Antonio said, “I’m a boxer-puncher. I adjust to the other fighter’s type of fight. Some fighters only have one gear. I can go through three, four, five gears and if I don’t have it, I’ll make it up – we’ll work something. I have always liked to be the type of fighter – straight forward, always in your chest – but at a professional level, that’s not always what you can do. You’ve got to take care of yourself.”
AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Antonio said, “I was born in Los Angeles. I have two younger brothers, and the youngest would be my sister. My father, he services trucks with my younger brother. They’re partners – they run a diesel mechanic business. My mother is doing the accounting for the business, and she works for Avon on the side.
“I’m the only boxer in the family. My brothers put on the gloves just to see what they could do, but they never boxed.
“I’ve been all over. I was born in Los Angeles – I think I went to kindergarten there. I don’t remember at what age, but I do remember going to school in Tecate, Mexico, from first to before fourth grade. That’s when my grandparents, they decided to go out to southwest Kansas, so we followed them out there. I did fourth grade until I graduated high school in Kansas. Every summer during summer vacation, any time I could get away, I would come to Southern California. My high school diploma was my ticket out. I graduated in May of ’06, and by July I was living with an uncle of mine back in Tecate. It’s a border city – it’s about 45 minutes from downtown San Diego. I lived in Tecate for four years.
“I set foot in the gym, I want to say, at the age of 10 when we moved to southwest Kansas. I’ve always been interested in sports, I just couldn’t find school sports – they just really never caught my attention. My father started saying, ‘Try something other than soccer or basketball.’ I tried wrestling, and those tight uniforms do not work. There was a kid going around the neighborhood for a fundraiser for this boxing gym. It was interesting – my mom and dad asked for information and a couple of days later, it was the first day I went to the gym and the first day I started training.
“I ended up with about 120 amateur fights. I know I lost about 25, 30 of them. I did compete and I did qualify for a few nationals, but at times the funds either were not there or I couldn’t get out of school. But I did attend the national Junior Olympics three years in a row. My first year I received the bronze medal, the second year I fell short of the gold medal. I won the Ringside tournament at the age of 16, 17. [note: results not currently available] The Golden Gloves, they were always right there in front of me, but I had to go to school.
“I’m naturally right-handed.”…Antonio is married and has three sons and a daughter…
AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:
2004 NATIONAL JUNIOR OLYMPIC CHAMPIONSHIPS – Brownsville, Texas, 138 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 6-22-04 he won a 19-11 decision against Christopher Finley of Detroit, Mich.; in the quarterfinals on 6-23-04 he won a 15-14 decision against James de la Rosa of Harlingen, Tex.; in the semifinals on 6-24-04 he won a 17-7 decision against Nathan Valenzuela of Chicago, Ill.; in the finals on 6-26-04 he lost a 10-8 decision against Willie Padilla of Rock Springs, Wyo….
2003 NATIONAL JUNIOR OLYMPIC CHAMPIONSHIPS – Alexandria, Louisiana, 138 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 6-17-03 he won a 5-0 decision against Mark Rodrigues of Kurtistown, Hi.; in the quarterfinals on 6-18-03 he won a 5-0 decision against Mark Tucker Jr. of Eldersburg, Md.; in the semifinals on 6-19-03 he lost a 5-0 decision against Deshon Banks of Maple Heights, Oh…..
STRENGTHS: Has an aggressive style, good skills and movement…has good punching power…is experienced against good opposition…had a strong amateur background…
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 27 fights…127 total rounds…
AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 4.7 rounds…
KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 62 %…
DISTANCE FIGHTS: 10 rounds – 4 (4-0)…8 rounds – 2 (2-0)…
