By Dan Ambrose: WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez’s luck finally ran out on Saturday night, losing by a 8th round TKO to Mexican challenger Orlando Salido (35-11-2, 23 KO’s) at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico. There was some controversy, as referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. stopped the fight with Lopez taking punishment in his corner at 1:39 of the 8th.
Although Lopez was clearly hurt and taking big shots, he was still fighting back and may have been able to survive the round. Lopez had been knocked down in the 5th and hurt again in the 6th. However, Lopez came back strong in the 7th and was fighting well up until getting hurt in the 8th and having the fight quickly stopped.
There is little question that Lopez was getting punished in this fight by the 30-year-old Salido. Lopez didn’t seem to be able to slow him down with hard shots. Indeed, Salido was able to walk through Lopez’s punches and put pressure on him with hard body shots and hooks. Lopez fought well going backwards through much of the fight, but it was clear that he was facing a stronger fighter than him in Salido.
In rounds one through four, Lopez seemed to get the better of Salido by a slight margin during each round. Salido kept coming forward constantly firing hard shots, but Lopez was able to move and punch with accuracy while backing up. However, you could tell even then that Lopez was going to have problems in this fight because he was being forced to fight a lot harder than he wanted and is accustomed to fighting. In contrast, Salido looked very relaxed, like he could continue to pressure Lopez all night long without tiring.
In the 5th, Salido began to find Lopez more and more with hard right hands and left hooks early in the round. Lopez looked distressed and attempted to trade with Salido. However, Salido caught Lopez with a big left hook to the head followed immediately by powerful right hand that snapped Lopez’s head around and sent him down on the canvas. He quickly got back to his feet but Salido blasted him with a series of big right hands that seemed to further hurt Lopez. Luckily for Lopez, the round ended just then otherwise he might not have made it much longer. As Lopez walked back to his corner his legs looked gone and he weaved slightly as he walked, looking like a drunk.
In the 6th round, Salido hurt Lopez twice more with big right hands that snapped Lopez’s head around. Lopez was trying his best to move and stay away from Salido, but it was no use. Salido was able to catch up to Lopez and punish him with big shots.
Lopez looked like a completely different fighter in the 7th, landing a lot of hard hooks to the head of Salido and throwing a lot of shots. Salido looked discouraged as he went back to his corner because things had changed so rapidly in the fight. Lopez landed some really hard shots in this round. They didn’t hurt Salido, but they definitely got his attention.
In the 8th round, Salido came out powerful shots. It looked like he was trying to up his game to make up for the last round. It quickly paid off for him as he punished Lopez with whip-like right hands and had Lopez in full retreat mode. Salido cornered him and began to blast away until the referee stepped in and halted the fight. It was strange stoppage because Lopez was still fighting back even though he was badly hurt.
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