Juanma vs. Salido II possible for October 15th

By Boxing News - 07/26/2011 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: The rematch between WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido (36-11-2, 24 KO’s) and former World Boxing Organization champion Juan Manuel Lopez (30-1, 27 KO’s) on October 15th, according to Steve Kim.

Lopez was totally destroyed by the stronger and arguably tougher Salido last April in an 8th round TKO defeat. Afterwards there was talk that Lopez was distracted by outside of the ring activities and this is why he looked so horrible.

However, Lopez looked to be the same fighter that struggled badly against Rogers Mtagwa in October 2009. The difference with Salido compared to the mostly smaller and weaker guys that Lopez has been matched up against since capturing the WBO title in 2010 is that Salido was taller and stronger than Lopez, and he also had an iron chin.

This wasn’t going to be one of Lopez’s soft opponents that collapse in a heap as soon as he hits them. Once it became apparent that Salido wasn’t going to go down immediately, Lopez found himself out of his class and took a bad beating.

Top Rank is making a tremendous mistake if they put Lopez back in with Salido, because this guy will always beat Lopez. They need to steer Lopez back to the guys that they’ve been matching him against so that Lopez can build himself back up. Bob Arum wants to put Lopez in with Yuriorkis Gamboa, but that fight will be pretty much pointless after Lopez suffers another knockout loss.

You can expect to see it anyway, but it’s going to be more than a joke after Salido knocks Lopez out again. Let’s face it, Arum blew it by letting the Gamboa-Lopez fight marinate too long. He needed to realize that Lopez’s chin and stamina are both questionable and he should have rushed the fight rather than waited. Now, Arum will have little choice but to put Lopez in with Gamboa after he loses again to Salido. What a waste.

The October 15th date for the Salido-Lopez fight is a bad one. On the same night Bernard Hopkins will be facing Chad Dawson on HBO. Granted, that fight will be on Pay-Per-View and will likely door poorly, but it’s still competition for Lopez vs. Salido II.



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