A number of interesting matchups are included on the October 12 Bradley-Marquez undercard at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
In the Batte of Orlandos, Orlando Cruz (20-2-1) will be testing his mettle against chinny but tough veteran Orlando ?Siri? Salido (39-12-2) in a Puerto Rico vs. Mexico affair with the vacant WBO featherweight title at stake. Given the story behind the story, this is an intriguing matchup and should tell us whether Salido has seen his best days or whether Cruz has bitten off more than he can chew.
Brad Solomon (20-0) is also on the card and is one very solid boxer. Brad was an amateur standout and was a three-time National Golden Gloves Champion (once in the welterweight and twice in the junior welterweight divisions). He has a number of impressive notches in his belt and should have minimal trouble with useful Kenny Abril (14-6-1) out of Rochester, NY.
Jesse Vargas and Mikael Zewski will be going up against dreaded TBAs, but they should do just fine?which brings us to perhaps the most intriguing bout of the evening aside from the main event.
Vasyl Anatoliyovich Lomachenko vs. Jose Ramirez
??He reminds me of the Olympians from the ?76 and ?84 (American) teams, like (Sugar Ray) Leonard, (Leon and Michael) Spinks, (Evander) Holyfield, (Pernell) Whitaker, (Mark) Breland. They were ready to face established pros from Day One.???Carl Moretti (Yahoo Sports)
Jose ?Negro? Ramirez (25-3) recently shocked Filipino Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista (34-2) in an ugly and sometimes dirty brawl featuring head butts and elbows to win the WBO International featherweight title and he did it in Davao City, Philippines, no less. ?Negro? has been flying under the radar as most of his work has been done south of the border in and around Mexicali. In fact, his astonishing win over Bautista was his very first bout outside of Mexico where he won his first 20 professional fights out of the gate.
Despite Ramirez?s credentials, he will be no match?no, make that made to order for the speedy and technically crafty 25-year-old Lomachenko. The Ukrainian is touted as one of the greatest amateur boxers in recent decades and most likely will put on a clinic in this his first professional fight.
There has been a lot of discussion recently about the purist style of boxing. For those who like it, you will love Vasyl Anatoliyovich Lomachenko.
After Vasyl dispatches Ramirez, the Ukrainian?s next opponent could come from the current top ten featherweights. In fact, it just might be the winner of the Battle of Orlandos.
