By Hector Gonzalez: Vasyl Lomachenko took his defeat gracefully and had the showmanship of a stand up guy. He gave a valiant effort and proved that he had the right tools to be a champion ‘one day’. Unfortunately, he made a big mistake, ‘overconfident’ would be an understatement. To suggest that a boxer with a great amateur record could get a champion belt in his second fight against the likes of Orlando Salido leaves me wondering what he and his managers were thinking. Then again, people did fall into his bandwagon and he even walked in as the favorite. Huge mistake.
Let’s start by stating the obvious, Salido weight in 2 pounds over the weight limit and got away with low blows through out the entire fight. There’s only one thing I have to say about that, WELCOME TO THE PRO’S BUDDY. Hitting a fighter below the belt on the thighs and legs is a strategy in boxing and you utilize it as long as you could get away with it. The most clear example is Julio Cesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor. It was part of Taylor’s strategy to end all of his combinations with a punch on Chavez’s thigh in order to slow him down. Chavez used his forearms to prevent a fighter from moving, Duran was known for low blows, Mayweather leads with his right and bends his elbow so that his elbow lands, Holyfield rushed in with his forehead, and Bernard Hopkins uses every trick in the book…. This is the main stage where half of it is about skill and half is about entertainment.
There are two ways to stop this, 1. The opponent returns the favor by hitting below the belt, 2. Uses showmanship to get the referee’s attention. Unfortunately, Lomachenko obviously didn’t learn that in the amateurs.
Let’s move away from Salido and focus in on Lomachenko. What exactly did he exhibit that showed that he was ready for the big leagues in only his second fight? To be quiet frank, nothing… except that in the future he could be champion, right now, no! And why is that? Because even though he was a great amateur you just proved that you have to climb up the latter just like everyone else. Learn how to throw punches in bunches, learn to fight in the inside, learn to through body punches. Take a lesson from Mikey Garcia when he fought Salido and learn how to set traps.
One last thing, I’ve been reading negative comments regarding Salido fighting dirty and coming in over weight. There is a huge dichotomy between Lomachenko and Salido that people have to keep in mind, Lomachenko has not proven a damn thing, Salido in the other hang is a VETERAN who has been to hell and back who literally has had to EARN every opportunity that has been given to him… He’s fought great wars against Guerrero, Marquez, Gamboa, Lopez and Mikey Garcia, all along he was the ginnie pig that was suppose to make the other fighter look good. He tested positive for a banned substances before defeating Guerrero, he immediately retook the test and tested negative and yet the boxing administration still declared the fight a no context against Guerrero who was suppose to be the prodigy in that division. He beat Lopez in Puerto Rico and didn’t get the credit because it was said that Lopez lost because of his material problems and such… Salido then is made to go back to Puerto Rico and defend his title in hostile territory even though he was the champion again.
So do I feel bad that Salido fought dirty and came in overweight, no- Salido has given too much to the sport to care.
Besides Salido didn’t win because he was overweight and fought dirty, Salido won because Lomachenko was not ready for the big leagues yet, simple as that.
Email Hector Gonzalez at Hect59@hotmail.com
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