From a fans perspective, this is the right fight at the right time for both fighters in their career. One could still argue both fighters more so Juanma, would benefit from a longer break before the rematch. Salido could have Lopez’s number and a second lost would be a major step back for Juan Manuel Lopez. Salido on the other hand could hold on to the belt and get nice paydays with fights against solid opponents and stay busy fights. Even though it’s Salido biggest payday at the division, more than likely he will have to knock out Lopez again to get the win because he will be fighting in his Puerto Rican rival’s backyard, but money talks and Orlando Salido couldn’t help but take the offer that came his way for the rematch from his 2011 massive upset over then unbeaten champion Juan Manuel Lopez. Even if Lopez decides to box and be a little safer, this fight is a can’t miss matchup that should produce some great exchanges in a two way, action fight. Can Lopez fight smart or with a different game plan from the first fight? Or does Salido have that straight right hand and the style to give Juanma fits?
Lopez was on top of the world going into their first fight last April. He was knocking most fighters out on his way to what many boxing fans thought of as a super fight with Yuriorkis Gamboa. In fact the two had fought the same opponents before and going into to this matchup plenty of people thought Lopez would perform better than Gamboa did in his fight with Salido. Bob Arum steered Lopez away from the super fight and right into his first career lost. More than likely Lopez underestimated Salido, and it was well known that he was having weight and family issues going into the Salido fight.
The first two rounds saw Juanma’s left hand landing often with a good punch rate to go with it. Even though he looked in control, Salido did land some solid punches. The 3rd round was more of the same but like the end of the second round, Salido started to land some solid hooks and hard right hands. Lopez started the 4th just like the three previous rounds with volume punching in flurries and landing straight left hands, but this time about halfway through the round Salido caught Lopez in the middle of an exchange with a huge right hand. The round ended with 2 way action between the fighters, but it was clear that Salido had landed the bigger more telling shots. Lopez again started well in the 5th and overall, was having a good round until with about 16 seconds to go, Orlando hurt Juanma with a left hand followed by a huge right hand to score the first and only knockdown of the fight. The 6th started with another clean left hook and huge right hand that hurt Lopez again and even thought he showed heart and it was a great round, once again Salido clearly landed the better punches. Lopez did bounce back in the 7th round only to get hit early and often with straight right hands in the 8th round. With Orlandolanding more of those same right hands, it was enough to force the ref in to stop the fight with Juan Manuel Lopez on the ropes in real danger. I thought it was a good stoppage, though many at first glance didn’t.
Fast forward 11 month’s and we have ourselves a Mexican vs. Puerto Rican Rivalry reloaded. Lopez had a stay busy fight to get the rust off and try to recover from his first knockout loss while Salido stayed busy with 2 fights. His fight with Weng Haya saw him tasting the canvas twice in a sloppy fight that ended by TKO in the 8th. The first time around Lopez showed he could fight on the outside a bit, but when push came to shove he opened up and often traded punches with Salido during the exchanges, which is something that has haunted him in the past and will have to be fixed if he wants to survive the whole fight. It’s great for him to combinations, but he needs to use his jab more to set up his left hand. Will Lopez have the discipline, something that he has rarely shown, and fight with his hands up the whole fight? Can he stay the course and stick to his game plan without getting into too many exchanges? Will he move and reset after a flurry or a big left hand, or will he fall in to the habit of letting his hands go leaving himself wide open for more of those left hooks and right hands of Salido? All these questions will be answered come March 10th.
Salido fought a pretty damn good fight, and he won’t need to change his game plan much if any. If I were his trainer I would tell him to go to the body much more and use a jab on the way in this time. I think the biggest challenge other than winning on the scorecards, will be Salido having to catch up to Lopez. Don’t get me wrong even if Juanma fights smarter, he won’t be sticking and moving per say, but I do see him landing his left and his jab one shot at a time all the while moving out of range early in the fight. I can see him landing a few flurries only to jump back outside or move side to side trying to confuse Orlando a bit more, but can Lopez really stay on his toes and box the whole time or even fight smarter the whole fight? Until I see it I won’t believe it. Maybe I will be wrong, but I just don’t see Lopez moving his head let alone his upper body the whole fight in effort to stay away from Salido’s power shots. I see Juanma getting out to an early lead and this time lasting longer maybe to the mid rounds, but then I see Orlando Salido slowly but surely breaking down Lopez to the body more this time and once again catching him with those short hard hooks and those nasty right hands. Either way it should be another great action fight which will only add to the already deep rooted rivalry between Puerto Rican and Mexican fighters.
