By Dan Ambrose: #3 WBC super featherweight contender Orlando Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs) thinks the judges badly got it wrong last Saturday night in scoring his bout against WBC super featherweight champion Francisco “El Bandito” Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs) a 12 round majority draw instead of giving him the victory at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. The judges scored the fight 114-114, 114-114 and 115-113 Vargas.
Salido, 35, feels he did more than enough to deserve the decision. Salido doesn’t know what the judges were seeing in the fight last night, because he felt that he landed the cleaner and harder shots throughout the 12 round fight.
In trying to explain why he lost the fight last night, he said he was also fighting Vargas’ promoters at Golden Boy Promotions as well as Vargas.
It’s hard to argue with Salido that he deserved the win last night. I had Salido winning eight rounds to four. I couldn’t give more rounds for Vargas because he was getting nailed with the harder shots in every round of the fight. Vargas did a lot of leaning and pushing to get Salido to the ropes, where he would then throw a ton of shots. However, most of Vargas’ punches missed because he was throwing looping punches that Salido was able to duck under. Salido connected frequently with shots down the middle and to the body.
For fight fans that look at Salido’s photo after the fight and say he got beaten up. The fans need to look at Vargas’ face. It was far, far worse looking than Salido’s. Vargas looked like he’d been run through a hamburger grinder twice. His face was a mess after the fight.
Vargas took a bad beating from Salido, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not the same fighter in his future fights. Salido gave Vargas a beating that may have a lasting effect on him.
“Well, I did good work. It was a close fight, a hard fight with Vargas, but I took the fight,” said Salido. Yeah, I’m very disappointed in the judges. They should have payed closer attention. I don’t know what they’re seeing, but I think I won the fight by a bit more. No, I was fine. He wasn’t that big or that strong. I felt like the stronger fighter in the ring, because I was on the inside of him and fighting him. He wanted to use his distance. No, I was just doing my work and I was letting him so that I could do my work to the body. But I was never hurt. There were a few punches that I did feel, but I was never really hurt badly. Well, if we can do it [a rematch against Vargas]. I don’t know. My promoters are the ones to decide that, and whoever they finalize is what I will do. Well, we are fighting against the promoter of Vargas. They could have an influence, but I don’t know. I think I won the fight by a bit more. I will go with the one who makes me the most money [for next fight]. That’s the one I will fight. I am a fighter that has a big name, and I need to go with the option that is best for me,” said Salido.
If Golden Promotions wants Salido to face Vargas for a second time, they’re probably going to need to compete with the promoters for Vasyl Lomachenko and Roman “Rocky” Martinez because they’ll likely look to get Salido for one of them.
Lomachenko was at the Vargas-Salido fight last night, and he would like to fight him again to avenge his loss from two years ago in 2014. That was the fight that Salido came into the bout with a weight advantage over Lomachenko, and he used his superior size to pound out a decision. I don’t think the weight had anything to do with Salido winning the contest.
I think he won’t the fight based on him working Lomachenko’s body for 12 rounds. The Ukrainian fighter likely had never fought anyone like that before during his long amateur career, and he seemed to wilt under the pressure. Lomachenko spent most of the fight with Salido holding him to keep him from throwing body shots.
Golden Boy might be better off keeping Vargas away from Salido because I think it’s a bad match-up for him. If they keep putting Vargas in with Salido, Vargas could end up with his career shortened considerably due to the punishment Salido inflicts on him. Salido hurt Vargas numerous times last night.
“Takashi Miura was a much more powerful puncher,” said Vargas after the fight.
No, I don’t believe Vargas in what he says about Miura being the harder puncher than Salido. I didn’t see Vargas getting hurt multiple times by Miura in their fight last year like I saw with Vargas getting hurt by Salido’s shots. Vargas shouldn’t get things twisted. When you hit as hard as those two guys, it really doesn’t matter if one of them hits a little bit harder. The power was too much for Vargas to deal with last night, which is why he was trying to get on the outside because Salido was working him over in a big way.
If Salido didn’t have good punching power, then why was Vargas getting hurt over and over again in the fight. If Salido didn’t have good power, then why was Vargas’ face so badly beaten up. I think Vargas needs to step back and realize that any top super featherweight has the potential of turning him black and blue. He can minimize their power, but the reality is he’s dealing with guys that can hurt him.
Vargas can’t take too many more beatings like the one he took last night in getting a very, very questionable 12 round draw if he wants to have a long career. That’s why Golden Boy might want to think twice before putting Vargas back in the ring with Salido. It would be a pity if Vargas gets used up quickly like we saw with Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez with them facing each other three consecutive times in brutal wars that left both of them a shell of what they’d been before they fought each other.