My Two Cents: Salido vs. Lomachenko

(Photo Credit: Chris Farina) By Jay McIntyre:

The Setting:

Where? – Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
When? – March 1st, 2014
Who? – Orlando Salido (40-12-2, 28 KO’s) vs Vasyl Lomachenko (1-0, 1 KO)
What’s at Stake? – WBO featherweight title
Why should you watch this fight? – although it is not the main attraction, it has far more question marks surrounding it – expect it to be a fascinating fight.

Background:

To compare amateur boxing to professional boxing would be akin to comparing the proverbial “apples to oranges”. While both are inherently about hitting and not getting hit, there are significant differences and there is an understandable grooming period when a fighter “turns pro”.

Consider some of the following differences between amateur and professional boxing:

Amateur boxing:

• 3 rounds, 3 minutes each; of 4 rounds, 2 minutes each.
• singlets and headgear are typically worn.
• points are gained through counting the number of legal scoring blows; no points for a knockdown. What this means is that fighter can “lose” the first two rounds, and through accumulation of points, win the fight in the third.
• punches allowed must be delivered on the white part indicated on the glove (the knuckles) and land on the front of the opponent’s head or body.

Professional boxing:

• 10 rounds, 3 minutes each (12 rounds for a championship fight.
• 10 point must system (the winner of the round must be given 10 points, the loser is given 9 or less), a boxer that scores a knockdown is given a 10-8 round. Even rounds are scored 10-10, though points can be deducted for infractions (holding, stalling, low blows etc.), so 9-9 rounds are possible. The scores based on the rounds are tallied and the most rounds wins unless a knockout (“KO”) or technical knockout (“TKO”) occurs.
• punches can land on the side or front of the opponent’s body, and there is more freedom on which part of the glove can hit the opponent.

With this in mind, the fact that Vasyl Lomachenko will be fighting for a major world title in just his second professional fight is nothing short of brazen. Lomachenko is an aggressive and accurate combination puncher. He has stuffed the attempts of his opponents to implement their game plans through his evasive forward pressure style and well-timed shots. His opponent, Orlando Salido is a seasoned veteran of the sweet science, who is also known for his aggression, and he has fought against some of the very best in his weight class. The biggest questions going into this fight are regarding the relative inexperience of Lomachenko on the professional circuit and how that may hinder him against seasoned competition. Also, will Salido’s predictable aggression be enough to overwhelm one of the best (formerly) amateur boxers in the world? Let’s have a look at what both men bring to the ring in this latest installment of “My Two Cents”.

Vasyl Lomachenko

Praise: good head movement, varied combination punching, adept at pivoting and circling out of trouble
Concern: untested in the professional ranks, mediocre ability when fighting on the back foot, sometimes stays in the pocket longer than he ought to.

Both Lomachenko and Salido are similar in that they are aggressive fighters, but here the similarities end. Lomachenko is the faster fighter that can place his shots very well. He has also, on numerous occasions, shown a remarkable talent for pivoting off his opponent’s line of attack and staying in range to inflict damage. Since Lomachenko is not particularly gifted at fighting off the back foot (at least from the footage available in relation to competition at the time), he fight with controlled aggression for several reasons. First of all, we don’t know how far his stamina will take him when fighting a world class boxer for twelve full rounds. Being used to fewer rounds in the amateurs, there is no telling how the extended fight time and pressure of Salido will phase him. Secondly, Lomachenko is not as flat-footed as Salido so he will be able to out-position him and make use of his movement and angles to get out of trouble, while being in a position to counter. Lomachenko will want to use this superior speed and movement in order to walk away with the WBO featherweight strap on Saturday.

When moving at his opponent Lomachenko is remarkably good at keeping his weight balanced, and moving his head to negate the punches of his adversary. He will slip, roll, catch, or ride punches coming his way as he gets close to deliver damage. He is a fast punching and aggressive southpaw (something I always instantly appreciate) that times his opponent and counters while standing right in the pocket. The trouble with this is that he doesn’t move his feet an awful lot once his head has done its work to get him safely where he wants to be. This is endemic to any fighter that is really good at something – they tend to rely on it too much and neglect other peripheral abilities that could also benefit their particular advantage. B.J. Penn, a veteran of mixed martial arts, is actually a pretty crisp MMA boxer, but relies so heavily on his head movement (because it’s awesome), that his footwork is mediocre at best. If Lomachenko opts to rely on his upper body movement to keep his head safe, he will have his feet ‘stuck’ (for lack of a better word) and play right into the phone booth style warfare that Salido prefers.

Another thing that Lomachenko has demonstrated quite often – and you can expect to see it this Saturday – is his stepping to the outside and pivoting out in a counter-clockwise directions. Leading with a jab or straight left, Lomachenko will step to the outside of his opponent’s lead foot. This denies their right hand from being much use, and leaves him with only the left hand to worry about. Because of this he smartly keeps his gloves up and pivots out to stay in range to continue attacking. His opponent, alternately, must turn a great deal to face Lomachenko who now has a dominant angle over his opponent and is looking over his left shoulder. This will be a very useful technique to keep him out of harm’s way when Salido bum rushes him, tries to force him to the ropes, or tries to bury him in the corner. We know that Lomachenko is fleet of foot, but he doesn’t use it defensively very often. He will need to hone his defensive footwork in order to overcome the pressure of Salido.

In summation, Vasyl Lomachenko’s keys to victory are the following:

• when fighting defensively he should catch Salido closing the gap
• make use of pivots and lateral movement to stay off the ropes and out of the corner
• using head movement to set up his own controlled aggression

 

Orlando Salido

Praise: relentless pressure, experienced at elite level, sturdy chin
Concern: loses form when giving chase to savvy boxers, little to no head movement, inconsistent jab

Salido is a fun fighter to watch when matched against just about anybody. While matching a patient boxer against another patient boxer may be boring, when you place two aggressive fighters in the ring against one another, there tends to be a fair amount of excitement (Glen Tapia vs James Kirkland comes to mind, as does Marvin Hagler vs Tommy Hearns). While Lomachenko and Salido are both aggressive in their own manner, Salido has several advantages in his favour when he steps through the ropes this Saturday. First of all he knows that he can hang with the best fighters in his weight class. Although he has not always won against the best, he has accrued an incredible amount of experience during his many years in the ring. Salido has always struggled against opponents that can time him during his headstrong frontal assaults. When he fought Mikey Garcia he was knocked down four times in the first four rounds. If you observe the tape you will notice that on each occasion he either did not have his feet placed to withstand the force of the blow, or he did not see the punch coming and could not brace himself in time. His fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa exposed his weaknesses against sharp boxers that move well. Salido gets heavy on his front foot, leans in and can get caught by hooks that arc around his gloves, and uppercuts that connect on his exposed chin. Also, given that he tends to hook his punches, rather than throw straight ones, he is also prone to fast punchers with compact technique.

Although the overwhelming message from the above criticism might suggest otherwise, the truth is that Salido finds his success with the same style that undermines him on others. His constant pressure, sturdy chin, and desire to back up the opponent can be incredibly discouraging and force his opponents to lose their endurance and adherence to their game plan. However, a fighter that can box off the back foot, or at least time him and pick their shots – tends to have decent success against him. Juan Manuel Marquez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Mikey Garcia are three examples of what boxers with good timing, speed and power can do to him. While Lomachenko clearly has all three of these traits, he also is at his best coming forward, and is considerably less effective when fighting defensively or off the back foot. Salido will want to tighten up his guard and footwork so that he doesn’t become too overzealous if Lomachenko chooses to try and slide around the ring.

When Orlando Salido fights a guy that stays stills longer than he ought to – through foolhardiness or loss of energy – the results are always in his favour. He can withstand a withering storm of punishment and continue to come forward. He does not become rattled and uncertain from being knocked down, and he does not fear the man in front of him. Lomachenko is a worthy adversary, but even though he has tremendous head movement, his feet become planted during this type of evasion and that leaves his body fixed and ripe for the beating. Salido can and will box (read: attack) for the whole twelve rounds, and if Lomachenko chooses to walk at him as well (without maneuvering away regularly) he will find himself trading broadsides with a much more durable and more battle-tested combatant. Salido may very well lose the early rounds, and that is not uncommon for him when he fights, but he finds a way to endure and pick up a victory against some quality opponents. He has terrible habits and that means that he will have to stick to a very controlled game plan that mitigates his unsavoury tendencies. If you recall Marcos Maidana’s fight against Adrien Broner, much of Maidana’s success revolved around the right game plan that was adapted to his style of fighting. Polishing the brawler’s skills is never easy, and that’s why the following keys to victory for Salido will require him to be the best possible version of himself on Saturday night.

In summation, Orlando Salido’s keys to victory are the following:

• keep his footwork balanced and his hands up in a closed guard when he stalks his opponent
• make use of hooks (feint and actual) to goad his opponent into bad positions (along the ropes and into the corner)
• draw a response (even by throwing a cursory jab) from his opponent and then move in with flurries
• prevent Lomachenko from being the forward moving aggressor