As the sequel to the epic confrontation between former Puerto Rican champion Juan Manuel ?Juanma? Lopez (31-1, 28 KO?s) and Mexican born Orlando ?Siri? Salido (37-11-2, 25 KO?s) approaches this weekend, to be telecast live on Showtime Championship Boxing from the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, I will attempt to set the stage a bit. What is well known to many trainers and boxers alike, is that once a pugilist obtains the necessary technical skills along with the experience to deploy those skills on a consistent basis, things can become much simpler. At that point, competitive prizefighting boils down to strategy, execution, timing, conditioning, the ability to make adjustments, and many times resolve, the latter characteristic especially important if two combatants are nearly identical in all other aspects. In the case of the rematch between Juan Manuel Lopez and the fighter who handed him his first defeat, as well as took his WBO featherweight title from him in April of 2011, the most important aspect mentioned as concerns Lopez seems to be the ability to make adjustments. With that said, Orlando Salido fought out of a crouch much of the time in their initial encounter, coming over the top to repeatedly land crunching blows on a rather stationary Lopez, especially of the right hand variety, of which the Puerto Rican fighter never adjusted to in any meaningful way. Perhaps overrated from the beginning, the flaws prevalent in Lopez? game would clearly be exploited by the battle tested ?Siri? Salido, who would give fighters the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez and Yuriorkis Gamboa all they could handle in lasting the distance, while soundly defeating Robert Guerrero, although to Guerrero? credit the bout would be changed to a no contest after Salido tested positive post fight for steroids. Sliding inside with excellent head movement, Salido would get to Lopez? body early, opening up head shots while backing the Puerto Rican fighter up to throw off his rhythm. Overall, Orlando would impose his rough and tumble style, out-slugging a fighter who is known to let the leather fly when confronted with adversity. And in out-slugging Lopez, who has knocked out just about everyone he has faced to compile an 87.5% knockout ratio, the iron chinned Salido would walk through what ?Juanma? had to offer up, eventually landing a big right hand in the fifth round which would deposit Lopez on the canvass. This would further discourage the Puerto Rican who has perhaps become too accustomed to finishing off his opponents, a circumstance which may have hindered his all around development. Round six would see Lopez fight on instinct alone as he was out on his feet and ready to go. However, a curious thing would happen in microcosm in round seven wherein which up on his toes while firing and scoring from a distance, Lopez seemed to find a niche. He would get Salido to follow him, in which instance the Mexican fighter was unable to set his feet and land anything of value. Orlando Salido at this point in time would be exposed as being less than a boxer, in which case if ?Juanma? can stick and move consistently in the rematch taking place this weekend, the outcome may in fact be very different. Stated an insightful Lopez, ?I have to be intelligent inside the ring. He won his first fight with me and I?ve seen his last two fights before that. He?s going to fight the same style. You have to be smart and use your boxing skills. That is the only way to beat Salido. I learned that in our first fight.? Easier said than done because included amongst ?Juanma? shortcomings is that he?s a warrior to his own detriment. This was evidenced by the fact that the Puerto Rican in that first fight would instinctively begin to hold his ground once he and Orlando began to exchange, of which Salido got the better of it all night long. And in speaking further on ?Juama? Lopez? deficiencies, let?s get specific. Unable to hurt the rock jawed Salido at any point, a major flaw seems to be that Juan Manuel can?t get into boxing mode when necessary. Aside from that, the Puerto Rican stands too vertical, tending to remain in range of his opponent after throwing punches without the benefit of moving his head. He also fails to fully rotate on his punches, neither transferring his upper body weight from one leg to the other, which further diminishes head movement, and ultimately squares him up to expose maximum target area. All combined, these liabilities would put Lopez in harms way against Salido, as well as against Rafael Marquez, who in his November 2010 bout with ?Juanma? would seriously rock him, possibly continuing on to knock Juan Manuel out if it were not for a bad right shoulder. And what I consider a rather insightful historical comparative as it relates to the previous, and perhaps the upcoming bout between Lopez and Salido, even though it doesn?t include a southpaw, is a reference to another former featherweight champion by the name Lopez, recently inducted Hall of Fame fighter Danny ?Little Red? Lopez. A similarly hard puncher as is ?Juanma,? finishing his career with an 81.25 % knockout ratio, ?Little Red? would face off with legendary Mexican fighter Salvador Sanchez in defense of his title, who would in two separate bouts pummel Danny Lopez endlessly, especially with the right hand, for the primary reasons that first of all Sanchez could take his punch, while additionally Salvador would bend at the waist and move his head side to side while delivering his blows. This would be in stark contrast to ?Little Red,? who would throw his punches from an erect stance while maintaining his head in the same relative position, a circumstance that would leave Danny Lopez quite vulnerable with the end result being that Sanchez would cut him to ribbons to capture his first major world title via 13th round stoppage. This scenario is quite reminiscent of what took place in Salido-Lopez I, with the difference being that Salido doesn?t possess the footwork of a Salvador Sanchez. Danny Lopez and Salvador Sanchez would have another go at it in a rematch four months later, with the now challenging ?Little Red? Lopez entering the ring in the best shape of his career to come out more aggressive, only to suffer an almost identical defeat, a 14th round TKO stoppage due to his inability to make necessary adjustments. The style of Danny Lopez was so ingrained after 46 fights that the 4 ? months preceding his second contest with Sanchez wasn?t enough time to instill fundamental alterations that would assist him in overcoming his rival. Perhaps Juan Manuel Lopez, not unlike Danny Lopez, had come to rely too much on his ability to take opponents out, whereas in going up against fighters who can deal with his power, he becomes a bit perplexed, and is unprepared stylistically to adapt. Being there are always answers in relation countering what an opposing fighter will offer up, the question remains for ?Juanma? Lopez, has he made the proper adjustments in training, and will he be able to apply them come fight night? The situational relevance as regards these fighters from different eras are hauntingly similar, to the point that I believe we will see something very close to what we witnessed in the first fight between ?Juanma? and ?Siri? Salido. In summation on this subject, perhaps the most revealing of similarities between Danny Lopez and Juan Manuel Lopez, is that their styles were and are so very embedded that even though ?Juanma? corner could have given him the proper advice during the previous Salido contest, which would have been to never allow the Mexican fighter to get underneath him, and/or time him with uppercuts, followed by instructing Lopez to stick and move from the outside after clearly getting outworked in close, he wouldn?t have been able to do it. This is because not only is it not part of Juan Manuel? makeup, but also because he?s too much of a warrior for his own good. With that said, if Lopez can turn that page to motor around and box from a distance, similar to that of a Salvador Sanchez, this would give the Puerto Rican his best chance at regaining the title for two primary reasons. Number 1 is that Salido is best suited to handling his business against those who choose to stand and trade. The second reason is that it has become apparent that Lopez? power isn?t enough to deter Salido, who is as tough as they come. Does Team Lopez have the qualifications to instill necessary alterations on behalf of their fighter? I think not if you look at it from the perspective that you are always in the gym learning for a reason, and that reason is, whether you are undefeated or not, a champion or not, you are someday going to face a fighter who can stand up to your power, and/or will present a different style or plan of attack, which you must be ready to adjust to. Lopez never demonstrated the discipline nor perhaps the ability to adjust accordingly. And unless he has in fact made some fundamental changes in how he delivers his punches, the posture he fights out of, or he has all of a sudden become more of a mover, he will be at the mercy of the rugged Salido once more, who definitely had his number the first time around. And regarding ?Juanma? fighting any differently, Orlando Salido thinks it will be more of the same. ?I know he will be better then last time but I don?t see him changing much. He might try in the beginning to fight in a different style but he will come back to his strengths.? What the Mexican fighter is saying here is that Juan Manuel will make a conscious effort to do what Team Lopez feels is necessary to be effective, but that in the heat of the moment when the subconscious takes over, Lopez will act accordingly, fighting in the style that has become entrenched in his muscle memory over an extensive period of time, which is to stand flat footed and trade. A prime example is that even though there was a very large ring in place during their first classic confrontation in the event ?Juanma? got in trouble, apparently using the ring was an afterthought once he got cracked by Salido, which leads me to believe that he won?t be inclined to use the ring this time either. Once things get heated, the Puerto Rican fighter bangs his gloves together, signifying he?s ready to battle it out toe to toe, a type of fight that seems to favor ?Siri? Salido. And where many consider Orlando Salido? first victory over Lopez an upset, I don?t. Salido is a skilled veteran who possesses poise, confidence, toughness, a solid chin, and above all the intelligence of a fighter who knows how to go about his profession. I think this is a case where the Mexican fighter?s head movement, as well as his strength presents a problem for Lopez, a problem which I don?t feel Lopez will overcome based on his latest triumph over Mike Oliver in which ?Juanma? still has the persistent tendency to stand up straight and leave his chin up in the air. Stated ?Siri? Salido, ?he is going to feel that he is the better and stronger man, and that he is not. I want to show that my first win was not a fluke.? In the end I surmise that Orlando Salido will at some point begin to impose his will just as before, whereas Juan Manuel Lopez will be reduced to trying to bang out a victory rather than adhere to a stick and move game plan. This may in fact be the demise of Lopez yet again.
