By Allan Fox: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is planning on setting up a rematch between WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs) and 35-year-old former two division world champion Orlando Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs) for October or November of this year.
This would be a strategic move by Arum in making the Lomachenko vs. Salido rematch rather than putting Salido back in with WBC super featherweight champion Francisco Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs), who Salido fought to a 12 round draw against on June 4 in a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate.
If you were to pool the boxing fans from all around the United States in which fight they would prefer to see, Vargas vs. Salido 2 or Lomachenko vs. Salido 2, it’s likely that the overwhelming response from the fans would be the Vargas-Salido 2 fight.
Arum wants to make a star out of Lomachenko in the worst way, and the only way he can do that is to have him beat the likes of Salido before Vargas does it. Lomachenko already has a loss on his resume to Salido two years ago in 2014 in losing a 12 round split decision.
Salido battered Lomachenko to the body for 12 rounds and had him clinching nonstop to try and slow down the body shots. We’ve heard excuses since then that the only reason Lomachenko lost was because Salido was heavier than him. The reality is that Lomachenko wasn’t as good as good as Salido, and he couldn’t handle the body shots.
“We’ve been talking to Salido’s people about the possibility of a rematch,” Arum said to ringtv.com. “I’d like to make the fight. It’s only going to be a question of money now.”
I think Arum would be better off building Vargas into a star than Lomachenko. That should be the fight that Arum is looking to make rather than putting that fight to the side so that Lomachenko can get the Salido fight. It’s Arum’s call, and he obviously wants to turn Lomachenko into a star.
I think the smarter move would be to build up the Mexican Vargas to turn him into a star in the U.S, because I think he has more potential than Lomachenko. I rate Vargas’s fighting style as much more exciting than Lomachenko, because he’s willing to trade and not focused on just boxing.
Lomachenko stopped former WBO super featherweight champion Roman Martinez in the 5th round on June 11. Arum has talked about wanting to make a star of Lomachenko. Obviously the fight against Salido would seem to be the first step by Arum in turning Lomachenko into a star.
Salido has arguably been robbed in his last two fights against Francisco Vargas and Roman Martinez in having to settle for 12 round draws in both fights. Salido was the B-side against both of those fighters, so it’s not surprising that he wasn’t given the victory. Who are the judges going to give the decision to – a fighter with 13 losses like Salido, or a fighter with either no losses or a small number of defenses? Salido wasn’t going to get the decision unless he did something really dramatic in my opinion.
I can’t see Salido getting a decision against Lomachenko unless he does something really spectacular. There’s too much hype surrounding Lomachenko now, and I think the judges will give it to the guy that has the fewer losses on his resume.