Orlando Salido vs. Juan Manuel Lopez II- Repeat or Redemption
By Boxing Reporter and Writer, Chris Cercola
When Juan Manuel Lopez fought Orlando Salido on April 16, 2011, this fight was supposed to draw comparisons, and a hard fought win for Juan Manuel Lopez over the tough, hard charging, former I.B.F. Featherweight Champion, Orlando Salido. Salido was expected to fight hard, but lose to the hometown hero Lopez. It was supposed to be the fight that set the stage for the first big super-fight in the respective careers of two of the young lions in the 126 pound division. After all, Showtime`s roving reporter and interviewer, Jim Grey was waiting to ask Orlando who he thought would win the fight between Yuriorkis Gamboa, who had to climb off the canvas, where he was sent, sprawling, from a Salido lead right hand just seven months earlier, and the man who was to have just beaten him, Juan Manuel Lopez. That was the plan, but of course, this is boxing, and all too often, the best laid plans go awry. Orlando Salido was here to render that question moot.
The writing was on the wall, this was to be a tough test for Lopez, after all, Orlando Salido never showed up for a fight just to let his opponent off easy. Yes, there are 11 losses on his record, but nobody can say they handled Salido easily, and that includes Gamboa, who got up from that hard eighth round knockdown in his fight with Salido, to win a unanimous decision just seven months earlier. The writing was also on the wall due to the turmoil that Lopez was going through in his private life. He and his wife, the mother of his children were going through a nasty divorce, and anybody who`s been through a divorce can tell you how hard it is to focus on any task at hand.
Orlando Salido, is a true professional, and if you don`t come in perfect condition, physically, as well as mentally, he will exploit that and make you pay, violently, and brutally for any mistake you make. Also interesting to look for was the “styles make fights” adage that you hear about so often in the game. Juan Manuel Lopez is a southpaw, and some of the best minds in boxing, think that the way to beat a southpaw is to throw a lead right hand, while others believe that the best way is to throw left hooks. Orlando Salido`s favorite punches, and when he`s on, he`d give anybody trouble, let alone a guy distracted by personal problems throughout training camp.
Like many Mexican fighters, Orlando Salido draws strength from believing in his heart that he carries to the ring with him, the fighting spirit of all of the legendary champions that came before him. As long as the native of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora Mexico is standing, he will not stop fighting, he is coming to battle for every second that he’s upright, he knows no other way. He was raised in a hard place and he fights like it.
Juanma, on the other hand, was being hailed as Puerto Rico`s next big thing, the next Miguel Cotto, or maybe he can be the next Wilfredo Vasquez. Just maybe, he can even be the next Felix “Tito” Trinidad. Yes, ‘The Beautiful Island’ adores their fighters, and the stage was all set for the boxing crazy paradise to claim their next super star. The man who was going to proudly grab the torch from the hand of Miguel Cotto and take off running. The crown was already being fitted and the scepter was getting polished, the new king was about to be anointed. Salido ignored the whispers, and he even continued to ignore them when he arrived onto Lopez`s home soil, where the whispers grew into screams. Salido was not coming to be a sacrificial lamb.
It was a celebratory scene as Juanma made his way to the ring. Puerto Rican flags were waving in the breeze and horns were being blown as if it was a football game, and Juanma looked as if nothing was wrong. A fighter has to wear a false face, even when things aren’t right, the proverbial poker face if you will. Salido looked focused, unfazed by the exuberant crowd.
Round one started out slowly, both fighters were feeling each other out. The only noticeable thing was the lack of head movement from Juanma, as Salido seemed to be trying to figure out what was the best way to attack the hard hitting southpaw. Certainly things would change. You just knew that this wasn’t the way the fight would play out for too long.
Round two saw similar action albeit at faster pace, with more exchanges. Juanma used his jab more often and more aggressively and Salido answered back to the body with more aggression and threw a few of the same right hands that dropped Gamboa, while missing the mark most of the time.
Round three slowed down again. Noticeably absent was Juanma’s movement, he wasn’t stepping it up, he seemed lifeless and lethargic, he was fighting without passion, but Salido was there, biding his time while landing the occasional hard shot to the body and missing more over hand rights than he was landing, but they were getting closer however. Lopez offered little head movement and also noticeable was how he was squaring up his feet, when he did punch, it seemed like he wanted to land one big shot and get out of there. You can feel the crowd trying to will their hero to give them a reason to jump out of their seats and justify this party, but it wouldn’t be.
Round four started out as if it was going to be a slow one, but a change took place about exactly halfway through, the change is not what the crowd wanted to see however. Salido seemed intent on getting down to business, and he started to dish out a brutal beaten that Lopez would never be able to answer. While Lopez pawed with his jab, Salido answered with debilitating body shots, left hooks, and the big, lead right hands were all finding their mark now. The crowd started to realize that Orlando Salido came to play the role of party pooper.
The fifth round left no doubts, Lopez had nothing left. Whether it was the personal problems or the fierce attack being applied by Salido, Juanma was a beaten man. He looked like an inexperienced matador, suddenly thrown in the ring with a bull who can sense fear, and so the bull charged. It was just a matter of time, and at the 30 second mark, Salido unleashed a devastating three punch combination, an uppercut that missed its’ mark but as soon as it missed, Lopez stood upright and in came a grazing left hook that set the head of Lopez in perfect line for that big straight right, and down, hard went Juanma Lopez! Somehow, he got up before the referee picked up the count, but he wasn’t there. The clock ran out but the minute rest only prolonged the beating.
The outcome now inevitable, I wondered why the Lopez corner would allow the fight to continue, and if they did, why did the referee? They did let it continue however, and the savage beaten continued for another two and a half rounds, which was about exactly eight minutes too long. The man could have been hurt permanently. While Lopez was being bull-dozed into the ropes for further assault, the ref finally stepped in with 1:43 remaining in round 8.
Afterwards, Bob Arum quickly wanted to talk about the personal problems that his fighter had to deal with while preparing for the fight. We heard how Juanma couldn`t train with his recent split from his wife lurking in his mind. Arum claimed that Juanma had trouble making weight. Upon further inspection however, having just moved up to the Featherweight Division, from the Super Bantamweight Division, Lopez actually came in a full pound below the Featherweight limit of 126 a couple of fights prior, and a half pound below for the fight previous, so he seemed pretty comfortable making the weight before this fight.
Only Juan Manuel Lopez knows if these are excuses, or legitimate reasons for his being beaten that night. Since that night he got himself back in the winning column fought once in October, scoring a second round knockout to get himself back on a winning streak, while Salido last fought on December 17 of last year and had to climb off the canvas two times to knock his man out in the eighth round in an very tough fight.
How will Juan Manuel Lopez feel looking into the eyes of the man who hurt him so severely throughout that first fight? Will he be able to put the memory behind him and fight up to the level that he thinks he can, and if he does, will it matter? Will Orlando Salido stay as hungry while he’s champion as he was when he was fighting for it? Will he fight to the same level as he did in the first fight? Was there enough time to recover from his last fight where he was hurt and almost knocked out himself? Will he be able to up his game if indeed he finds out that Lopez actually does have another level that he didn’t see that night last April? These are the questions that bring us back to find the answers, and to see how this drama plays out. Both fighters sounded confident of victory at the final press conference on Wednesday. Something tells me we’re in store for high drama this weekend. Enjoy it everybody.
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