By Ian S Palmer
Former WBO Junior Lightweight Champion Orlando Salido of Mexico will be attempting to win back his title from Roman ‘Rocky’ Martinez of Puerto Rico this Saturday, September 12th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is a rematch of their bout earlier this year which saw Martinez dethrone Salido by way of a unanimous decision in San Juan while dropping him twice along the way. The bout is on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather vs Andre Berto bout on pay-per view. British fans can catch the live action on BoxNation though.
Salido is a two-time champ at 130 lbs while Martinez has won world belts in the 126 and 130 lb divisions. The 34-year-old Salido climbs into the ring with a record of 42-13-2 with 29 Kos while the 32-year-old Martinez is 29-2-2 and has 18 Kos to his name. The loss to Martinez was the first time Salido has been beaten by a Puerto Rican boxer in six bouts. He beat Carlos “Topo” Gerena by decision in 2002 in Texas and two years later he stopped Omar Adorno in the fourth round in Puerto Rico. Salido headed back to the island in both 2011 and 2012 and knocked Juan Manuel Lopez out in the eighth round and in the 10th in the rematch. Then in 2013 he stopped Orlando Cruz in Las Vegas.
Martinez won his titles via a fourth-round TKO over Nicky Cook in England 2009 and by a split decision against fellow countryman Miguel Beltran Jr. in 2012 in Las Vegas. He’s in for another tough test against the aging veteran Salido, who’s been known to bend the rules once in a while. Salido has a good chin, but has been dropped numerous times in his career and has been stopped five times. In fact he was knocked out in the fourth round in his pro debut. Martinez’s two losses have been to Scotland’s Ricky Burns in 2010 by decision and was stopped by Mikey Garcia in eight rounds in 2013.
Neither of these guys will shy away from a brawl and if they hit the canvas they get back up and carry on. Salido stands 5-feet-6-inches tall and has a 67-inch reach while Martinez is 5-foot-8 and also has a 67-inch reach. Salido has 393 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 1996 with Martinez turning pro 2001 in and going 226 rounds. Fans should expect another brawl on Saturday night, much like their first meeting in April. These guys will stand in front of each other and punch away as they’re not going to try to outbox each other.
Prediction
This should be an exciting fight with both guys giving and taking and leaving nothing in the ring. There’s no point in trying to analyze it as there likely won’t be too many boxing tactics involved as each man goes for a stoppage. If past history is anything to go by there could be a few knockdowns along the way. All of the previous wars may have caught up with Salido and Martinez should retain the title by close decision or late stoppage.
