By Dan Ambrose: World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion Orlando Salido (35-11-2, 23 KO’s) will be making his first defense of his belt against super bantamweight fringe contender Kenchi Yamaguchi (17-1-2, 4 KO’s) on July 23 at the Centro de Usos Multiples, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico.
Yamaguchi, 31, is a replacement opponent for Mike Oliver, who reportedly injured his sternum in training and can’t make the fight. The choice of Yamaguchi is an interesting one given that he’s not even ranked in the featherweight division at this time.
It would seem a little better if Salido at least fought someone in his own division rather than digging down to the bottom of the super bantamweight division to find Yamaguchi. Salido recently defeated Juan Manuel Lopez in an easy 8th round TKO in April. Salido and Lopez will likely be meeting up for a rematch very soon in Lopez’s home country of Puerto Rico.
Salido will be favored in the rematch, because Lopez looked completely baffled how to handle Salido’s power shots. It was a situation where Salido was simply too strong for Lopez and wasn’t bothered by his shots in the least. You knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, though, because Lopez had shown signs of stamina issues in the past and didn’t have a good chin.
Salido punches hard, has great conditioning and tends to apply a lot of pressure on his opponents. Lopez never stood a chance in the fight and took a major beating. Salido will likely beat Lopez even easier in a rematch.