Orlando Salido came into this matchup in Las Vegas vs Miguel Roman with speculation that a rematch vs Vasyl Lomachenko could be a possibility if he defeats Roman. Salido was the first one to hand Lomachenko his first loss of his professional career three years ago. For Roman, this was an opportunity to capitalize on the national stage on HBO in order to highlight a major title fight of his own. In the end, Roman displayed dominance throughout this fight to show that he does belong in the conversation of one of the most talented boxers in the super featherweight division.
Salido’s age and fatigue was displayed heavily throughout the fight. In the first round, Salido was forced to defend himself on the ropes as Roman was throwing a myriad of aggressive jabs. He was able to become more aggressive vs Roman in the second round by landing a few body shots but Roman was able to counter with some effective shots of his own to swing momentum in his favor.
By the fourth round, Roman was beginning to exert his dominance. A series of body shots forced a knock down on Salido. Roman told BlackSportsOnline that he thought he was done but was not surprised because Salido is that tough.
“I was surprised of the way he came back and stuck around after the first knockdown,” said Roman. “I thought he was done but he’s a warrior and he’s known for that. Even when I knocked him down to end it in the ninth round, I was hoping for him to come back because that’s he way he is but he never did.”
The fight would go on to be stopped in the ninth round due to that knockdown by Roman. This was one of the three total knock downs by Roman for the fight.
For Orlando Salido, he said immediately after the fight that he was done with boxing. This concludes a career in which he finishes with a 44-14-4 record. He made his pro debut in 1996. He was impressive but could not notch key victories over names such as Juan Manual Marquez, Robert Guerrero or Mikey Garcia.