San Juan, P.R.- The main event started to a standing crowd in an almost full house. Fans knew they were about to see a war and were cheering López with as much enthusiasm as they booed Salido. Both fighters looked primed and in great shape for the fight. As soon as the bell rang for the first round silence dominated the arena. Salido stalked JuanMa while López used lateral movement and looked for countering opportunities in the first and second rounds. The third round saw some good exchanges and even if it was a fairly even round, Salido appeared to be making it into his type of fight.
Salido had the best of the first two minutes of the fourth webbanki.ru but JuanMa came back with some good shots in the last minute that got Orlando’s attention. JuanMa boxed well in the fifth and knocked Salido down with a short right hand towards the end of the round. Siri came out aggressive for the sixth and eventually put López against the ropes where he landed some of his best shots so far. The Mexican kept the pressure up during the seventh and both landed good shots but Orlando seemed the fresher boxer.
Roles changed in the eight when JuanMa started driving Salido back and Salido got pinned against the ropes but still managed to land his share of punches as the crowd cheered for their charging countryman. The ninth saw all pretense of defense thrown out the window as both fighters traded to the delight of the crowd. Often it was hard to tell who was getting the better of the exchanges, but it was López going forward now.
The tenth saw a dramatic change as JuanMa came out looking completely exhausted and Salido took advantage to end things with several big rights and a short left. López got up but referee Roberto Ramírez Sr. saw that it was over and waved it off at 32 seconds.
With the loss, Salido solidifies himself as a world class boxer who still fights at the level of his opponents and López needs to take a long serious look at what his future holds. For the former Puerto Rican champion, there will be future opportunities as any brawler with his knockout power and his willingness to trade is always an entertaining boxer to watch. Salido will take his title for some spins and as long as he stays away from the Gamboa’s and, in my opinion, the Mickey Garcia’s of the featherweight division, he should be all right for a while.
“This is how I planned this fight,” said Salido. “I knew it was going to be a very tough fight. We both competed punch for punch. I’m just lucky he’s the one that fell.”
“He hit me hard but I could still continue,” said Lopez after the fight. “I was dominating the fight. It was a tough fight but I was winning.”
As simply put by Salido, “This was a classic in the long rivalry between Mexican and Puerto Rican fighters.”
The co-feature of the night featured featherweight phenom Miguel “Mickey” Angel García (28-0, 24KO’s) of Oxnard, California defending his NABO title against Filipino Bernabé Concepción ( 29-5-1, 15 KO’s) in a fight to ten rounds. Action started slowly in the first two rounds. García used his reach advantage to land some jabs while Concepción managed to land two right hands at the end of the second. The third and fourth followed the same pattern until Mickey started letting his hands go at the end of the fourth and landed several right hands and left hooks that made Abe take a few steps back.
In the fifth, García upped his work rate and again landed several good shots as Concepción appeared to be in a much tougher fight than his opponent. In the sixth, García managed to take Bernabé against the ropes several times where he would land good shots. The Filipino fought back but his punches usually fell short o their target. Concepción had a good start to the seventh round as he landed several combinations but halfway through, Garcia landed a combination that knocked down and hurt Concepción. Bernabé beat the count but Mickey went systematically for him and forced the stoppage at 2:33 with Concepción receiving punishment against the ropes.
García looked as formidable as always in breaking down a game opponent with the demeanor of an experienced veteran. At 126 lbs he is threat to anyone and everyone.
Puerto Rican prospect José “Chelo” González (18-0, 13 KO’s) faced Hevinson Herrera (15-8-1, 13KO’s) who fights out of Miami, Florida in a ten rounder at lightweight. The first four rounds were very tactical with both fighters looking for their range and only landing a few punches a piece while the crowed booed in disapproval.
Finally with forty seconds left in the fifth, Chelo landed a right hand that wobbled Herrera, got the crowd on its feet and went for the finish but ran out of time. González landed multiple straight lefts from his southpaw stance in the sixth finally knocking down Herrera but again couldn’t seal the deal before the bell rang. By the seventh round, Chelo was dominating but seemed in no hurry to press the action until the final seconds.
The referee finally halted the fight when in the eighth González landed several flurries to the head of Herrera. Herrera complained but he was hopelessly behind in the scorecards and seemed pretty hurt at the time of stoppage which was 1:12 of the eighth. Chelo won, but did leave much to be desired considering he is usually an action fighter and this was a big opportunity for him to shine on Showtime.
As to what’s next for Garcia, he responded, “I would like to face any of the champions at 126.”
The televised portion of the card started with the other half of the Arroyo brothers, McWilliams Arroyo (11-1, 9 KO’s) facing tough journeyman and two time world title challenger Luis “Titi” Maldonado (38-7-1, 29KO’s) of Baja California, Mexico. The fight was set at a limit of 112lbs. and set for ten rounds with the WBO Latino Title on the line. Arroyo dominated the first round with jabs, lead left hooks and straight right hands to his southpaw opponent’s head and body. Both fighters traded lefts in the second, but the Puerto Ricans’ were sharper and seemed to carry more power. Arroyo won the third but developed some ugly swelling right over his right eye, possibly from a Maldonado left hand. Arroyo countered well in the fourth but his swelling eye started bleeding.
The fifth saw some more counter punching from McWilliam and on the sixth he unloaded with some excellent combinations that eventually opened a cut under Titi’s right eye. Rounds seven, eight and nine were fought at a slower pace as Arroyo started using more of the ring and doing less body work while fighting with his mouth open. The Mexican had his best round in the tenth managing to land several good shots and forcing Arroyo to backpedal for most of the round. Judge’s scorecards were 98-92 and 99-91 twice in favor of Arroyo.
Allan Tanada (11-2-2, 5KO’s) of Paranaque City, Philippines and Gamalier Rodríguez (18-2-3, 12KO’s) of Bayamón, P.R. Were up next for a featherweight bout set for eight rounds. Tanada was eager to exchange from the get go but Rodríguez used his superior footwork and counter punching skills to land clean punches while staying away from danger. By the fifth round Tanada was showing signs of desperation and payed the price for it when, with thirty seconds left, got caught and rocked. After several more big blows from Rodríguez, the referee appeared to stop the fight but let them at it again apparently realizing the round wasn’t over. The last rounds saw Tanada looking to land something spectacular but only finding the business end of Gamalier’s powerful counters. Final scores were 80-72 and 79-73 twice all in favor of Rodríguez.
Former Puerto Rican amateur star McJoe Arroyo (10-0, 5 KO’s) fought Shawn Nichol (5-10, 5KO’s) of Denver, Colorado at a limit of 115 lbs. After a fairly even first round, Arroyo’s more precise punches and better footwork started to take over in the second when he also landed several big blows to the body. Nichol was game through the third and fourth but by the end of the fifth, Arroyo’s body work began paying dividends. Nichol went all out in the sixth but the former Olympian’s straighter, shorter punches rocked him throughout. Final scores were 59-55 and twice 60-54 in favor of the still undefeated Arroyo.
Charlie Serrano (14-3-1, 4KO’s) took on local Camilo Pérez (7-0, 4KO’s) in a junior featherweight bout set for six. Both fighters fought on mostly even terms for the first two rounds and in the third, Pérez landed some crisp right hands that seemed to wake up Serrano who closed the round strong. An unintentional headbutt opened a cut on Camilo’s forehead in the fourth but he closed the round landing the cleaner punches. Pérez used his jab well offensively and defensively to win the last two rounds and take a unanimous decision with scores of 58-56 and 59-55 twice.
Junior welterweights Alberto González and John Karl Sosa made their respective pro debuts to start of off the night. In a one sided fight, Sosa (now 1-0,1 KO) showed a classic amateur style before dropping González twice in the second round. Sosa landed well to the body and head of his over matched opponent before the referee stopped the fight with González on his back. Time of stoppage was 1:02 of the second round.
The next four rounder featured Enrique “Quique” Quinones (4-11-1, 4KO’s) vs. Rafael González (8-0 7KO’s) in a welterweight bout set for four. Quinones offered only a little bit of resistance in the first stanza but González took over and chased him around the ring while landing hard punches from then on. Round two saw more of the same with González feeding Quinones a steady diet of uppers until Quinones’ corner finally waved a towel and the referee stopped the fight at 1:10 of the third.
