By Michael Collins: Juan Manuel Lopez (31-1, 28 KO’s) will try and prove that he’s still the best fighter in the featherweight division on March 10th in his rematch against WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido (37-11-2, 25 KO’s) at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Lopez, 28, fell completely apart in his 8th round TKO loss to Salido last year in April. Perhaps Lopez overlooked the 31-year-old Salido and figured that a guy that many losses had to be beneath him and would cave in like so many other Lopez opponents when he started to put the heat on.
But what Lopez quickly found out was that Salido was nothing like any fighter he’d ever seen before and he started to take punishment from him. Lopez fought back hard and was able to land his usual big shots but Salido wasn’t hurt or slowed down any. He was like a man on a mission, intent only to blast Lopez with right hands and test his endurance.
We began to see cracks in Lopez’s exterior in the 6th when he was hurt from a big from Salido. Lopez fought through it and came back strong in the 7th in what was his best round of the fight. However, Salido doubled his efforts in response in the 8th round and once against hurt Lopez with solid rights to the head.
The referee stopped the fight suddenly when Lopez started to get bombarded with heavy shots when he was pinned in the corner. Lopez protested the decision but one looks at his dazed appearance told you all you needed to know about what would have likely happened had the referee let Lopez continue fighting for the remainder of the round. He was would have been bludgeoned into submission.
Lopez says he’s going to fight different in the rematch on March 10th, but Salido is doubtful about that and feels Lopez will quickly revert back to what he’s always been, a slugger once things get tough for him.
The winner of this fight could face the winner of the undercard fight between unbeaten featherweight contender Mikey Garcia (27-0, 23 KO’s) vs. Michael Farenas (33-3-3, 26 KO’s).