Salido vs. Lomachenko rematch unlikely

By Boxing News - 08/09/2016 - Comments

salido7

By Chris Williams: The negotiations between the managers for WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomahenko and Orlando Salido reportedly are not going well at this time. Salido’s management isn’t happy with the money that was offered to them for the fight and is thinking of going in another direction towards a fight against Takashi Miura. Salido was given a take it or leave it offer by Lomachenko’s management, according the LA Times. That’s not going to work to make the fight happen. Salido wants to be well paid for a rematch against Lomachenko, and if that’s not going to happen, then he’s going to be moving on.

Salido, 35, reportedly is being offered $500,000 for the fight against Lomachenko. The Ukrainian fighter will be making between $850,000 and $1 million. Lomachenko could wind up making twice the amount that Salido makes in the fight, and that clearly doesn’t sit right with him or his manager Sean Gibbons.

Salido has options available to him due to him being a very exciting fighter. He can look to fight Miura or perhaps even a rematch against WBC super featherweight champion Francisco Vargas, who he recently fought to a 12 round draw against last June. Salido appeared to win that fight, but the judges gave a draw to the Top Rank promoted Vargas. Getting a rematch against Vargas might be tough if Salido doesn’t face Lomachenko.

Even if Salido doesn’t make more than $500K for another fight against someone else, it’s understandable why he wouldn’t accept an offer that he feels isn’t worth what he feels he or his management should be getting for a fight against Lomachenko. That’s a tough fight and if Salido and his management don’t feel they’re getting enough money for it, then it makes sense for them to look in another direction.

“Bob Arum said take it or leave it to the purse he was offering. Well, we’ll leave it,” Salido manager Sean Gibbons said via the LA Times. “It’s a … insult.”

YouTube video

Roman Martinez made $525,000 for his fight against Lomachenko on June 11, and Salido would be getting less than him if he accepted the offer of $500,000.

“I really wanted Lomachenko, but I haven’t heard back from Mr. Bob. He knows our number,” Gibbons said. “We’re not waiting too long, we’re not chasing.”

Gibbons says that he was told by Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum that they have the option of matching Lomachenko against WBA champion Jezreel Corrales or IBF champion Jose Pedraza. Gibbons says that if Arum makes that move, then there won’t be a lot of interested from the boxing fans. Obviously, Corrales and Pedraza are mainly known by hardcore boxing fans of the sport. If Arum makes an announcement in a fight on HBO Boxing between Lomachenko and Corrales or Pedraza, then it would be equivalent of an unknown fighter being brought in for Lomachenko to fight. Casual fans of the sport have likely never heard of Corrales and Pedraza. Even many of the hardcore fans probably aren’t too familiar with those guys. It takes the ultra-hardcore fans to know about fighters like that.

Miura is the same fighter that fought a war with Francisco Vargas last year in an exciting fight that was the 2015 ‘Fight of the year.’

YouTube video

Salido is probably better off going after other fighters that give him a better chance of making the most money. Fighting Miura would be a great fight for Salido. If he wins that, then he can look to fight Vargas in a rematch to clear up the controversy from their controversial fight last June. I saw the fight and had Salido winning eight rounds to four against the Top Rank promoted Vargas. In Salido’s fight before that, Salido fought to a controversial draw against Roman Martinez. I had Salido winning that fight as well, as did a lot of boxing fans. Salido has a reputation for creating incredibly exciting fights each time out. Salido whipped Lomachenko in their fight in 2014, and had him holding constantly all night long to keep from getting hit by Salido’s hard body shots. I don’t see anything controversial about Salido’s win over Lomachenko. It was a clear victory for Salido. It wasn’t his fault that Lomachenko couldn’t handle his body shots. It was Lomachenko’s fault. He wasn’t ready for an advanced fighter like Salido and I still don’t see him ready despite him recently beating Martinez last June.