By Ian S Palmer
Featherweight Orlando Salido will be defending his WBO Championship against Mikey (Miguel Angel) Garcia on Jan. 19 at Madison Square Garden’s Theater in New York City. The bout was originally scheduled for last November 10th, however it was pushed back a couple of months after Salido suffered a broken finger.
The veteran Salido of Mexico will have his hands full with the 25-year-old American slugger Garcia of Oxnard, California, who will enter the ring undefeated with a record of 30-0 with 26 Kos. He had a fine amateur record and has won a couple of regional boxing titles (NABF and NABO Featherweight crowns) and will be aiming for his first world title belt against Salido. Boxing runs through Garcia’s veins as Roberto Garcia, a former IBF Super Featherweight king is his brother. Roberto is now recognized as one of the sport’s top trainers. In addition Eduardo Garcia is Mikey’s trainer and father.
Garcia has been fighting as a pro since 2006 and stands 5-feet-6 inches tall with a 70-inch reach. He’s a good boxer-puncher who possesses considerable power. Garcia has shown that he can explode at any time and can take an opponent out with a single punch. He’s also pretty cool, calm and collected in the ring for his age and never panics. If there is a downside to Garcia it would be his inexperience in big pro fights. He hasn’t faced a world-class boxer yet and will certainly be doing so when the opening bell rings against Salido. Garcia’s last bout was on Nov.10 when he stopped Jonathan Barros in the eighth round.
Salido is now 32 years old and is the same height as his challenger at 5-feet-6, but falls three inches short of Garcia in the reach department with a wingspan of 67 inches Orlando Salido. He’s a better fighter than his record of 39-11-2 with 27 Kos shows and is also a former IBF Featherweight titleholder. He turned pro way back in 1996 and has faced some of the top opponents of his era. He first fought for a world title against fellow Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez back in 2004 and lost a unanimous 12-round decision.
Salido actually lost his pro debut as a 15-year-old when he was stopped in the fourth round by Ivan Cazarez. He lost seven of his first 19 bouts and drew two others. He was stopped in five of these losses so his chin was obviously a problem early in his career. That problem seemed to rectify itself as he’s lost four fights since 2001 and hasn’t been stopped in any of them.
He had another title shot in 2006 when he took on Robert Guerrero. He won a decision, but this was changed to a no-contest after Salido failed a steroid rest. However, secondary tests proved to be negative, but the bout still stands as a no decision. He had a third crack at a world title in 2008, but came out on the short end of a 12-round split decision to Cristobal Cruz. He finally won a world championship two years later when he beat Cruz by a unanimous decision in a rematch.
Salido lost the belt in his first defense later in 2010 when he took on WBA Champion Yuriokis Gamboa and dropped a unanimous decision. He won the WBO belt in 2011 with an exciting eighth-round TKO over Juan Manuel Lopez. He defended the crown twice and then knocked Lopez out in the 10th round of their rematch in one of 2012’s best fights.
Prediction
Salido likes to press the action and throw punches in bunches. He’s got a lot of energy and his chin has improved immensely over the years. Garcia will need to keep Salido at bay with his jab and try to rack up points. He’ll definitely let his hands so when Salido comes in range and the champion will have to make sure he doesn’t walk into one of Garcia’s power shots. Garcia will likely be more patient than Salido and will try to stay away from a slugfest. The champion prefers to go toe-to-toe and will have to get inside of Garcia and make sure he’s throwing punches as he moves in. It’s hard to tell how Garcia will stand up against a world-class fighter, but given his decent chin, power and youth, he’ll likely take Salido’s title by a decision or late stoppage.
