After taking almost a year off since his thrilling, FOTY contender with Francisco Vargas, Mexican ultimate warrior Orlando Salido finally has his next fight set. The teak-tough 36 year old will face Thai fighter Amphon Suriyo, 18-2(14) in Mexico on May 27, RingTV.com reports.
Salido, 43-13-4(30) really is a throwback to the old-school, fight-anyone, sluggers of years gone by. The only man to have beaten the seemingly unbeatable (!) Vasyl Lomachenko, Salido has also carved out fine wins over the likes of Juan Manuel Lopez (twice), Orlando Cruz, Cristobal Cruz and Terdsak Kokietgym (in another great action fight). Heaven knows, he deserves a “safe” or straightforward “tune-up” type of fight.
And as fans know, the hope is – the probable plan is – for Salido to get that interesting return bout with “Hi-Tech” at some point before the Mexican worker exits the sport and begins to enjoy his hard-earned retirement. Sean Gibbons, who looks after Salido, told Ring that he doesn’t like looking at any fight as a “tune-up” affair, adding that if his fighter loses to Suriyo, then any future big fights, the rematch with Lomachenko included, goes well and truly south.
After the long and frequently gruelling career he has had, no-one can really know how much Salido has left to offer. On paper, he should have more than enough to see off 29 year old Suriyo. Aside from his last fight, an October TKO defeat to Brandon Ogilvie in Australia, the Thai has never boxed away from home. There are no instantly recognisable names on Suriyo’s record (save maybe Billy Dib, who also beat him) and Salido should be expected to pick up another win next month.
Still, you never know – and with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai recently upsetting huge betting favourite Roman Gonzalez, Thai fighters have seen a huge boost to their collective confidence.
Let’s see how Salido looks in next month’s fight; and if he appears to have enough left to give Lomachenko another rough and tough night’s work.