KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Rodolfo Orozco is just 25 years old, a young man by any standard – even the sometimes-unforgiving benchmarks of boxing. But for the junior middleweight from Sinaloa, Mexico, Saturday night represents a make-or-break moment.

If Orozco’s name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, perhaps you’ll recall the first big fight in the United States for Conor Benn, the UK-based junior middleweight who last month dropped a decision to domestic rival Chris Eubank Jnr. In September 2023, on the undercard of a Richardson Hitchins-Jose Zepeda bill in Orlando, Benn squared off with Orozco, who acquitted himself well (one judge scored the decision as close as 96-94) in going 10 rounds as a late replacement in a points loss to Benn.

But what could have been a low-key launching pad for Orozco, 33-4-3 (25 KOs), proved to be a career-altering incident in which he was suspended by the Florida Athletic Commission after it was found that he had tested positive for a banned substance before the fight. Oddly, the commission never identified the substance, but the ruling has been the primary reason Orozco has been on the shelf since.

Set to finally end his period of inactivity here at Silver Spurs Arena on Saturday, against rising prospect Darrelle Valsaint, 12-0 (10 KOs), Orozco explained his side of the story through an interpreter at Friday’s weigh-in.

“Before the fight in Orlando, there was a heat wave where I live, and I was feeling really sick, so I went to the doctor and got a couple injections,” Orozco said. “And in those injections I got, one of them [contained] steroids. I didn't know that I was going to fight, so that's why I tested positive. But it wasn't on purpose or anything like that – it was medicine.”

Whatever the substance, it was poison for Orozco’s career. He received a one-year suspension – a crushing blow for a fighter who turned pro at 16, fought on six- and eight-week intervals and piled up almost 40 pro fights in the gyms, sports bars and small spaces of his hometown of Guasave by his early 20s. The Benn fight was his big break – his first show in the US and a step up to a name opponent, if not quite a world-caliber foil.

Almost 20 months later, back in the Orlando area, Orozco has a chance with a win over Valsaint to not only set his career back on track but perhaps even level up. A defeat, on the other hand, would mark his third loss in five fights – but Orozco isn’t thinking about any of that. He said he has the experience edge against Valsaint – an inarguable fact – and believes that a full camp will make the difference this time out.

“I think I can do a lot better now,” Orozco said.

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.