Gamboa will plow through Salido
This Saturday WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (18-0, 15 KOs), an Olympic gold medallist, will take on Orlando Salido (34-10, 22 KOs) in Las Vegas at the Palms Resort Casino. The fight will be broadcast on HBO and is sure to be Gamboa’s toughest test so far.
Salido brings a ton of unorthodox history that will likely make him an unpredictable, savvy opponent. He turned pro at the age of 15, and pushed his career to 14-8 by his 21st birthday. He would often take fights on absurdly short notice. Saldio once fought twice in four days in 2002, defeating then-undefeated Lamont Pearson and then a Mexican journeyman just after.
In 2004 Salido fought Juan Manuel Marquez and lost, but bounced back to beat Cesar Soto in his following fight, and then Rogers Mtagwa. In 2006 he upset Robert Guerrero, but the match was scratched off the books after Salido failed a post-fight drug test. In recent he’s gone 1-1 with the brawler Cristobal Cruz.
Salido is no pushover. He’s not the best in his division, but then considering what Top Rank wants out of Gamboa and hence who they are willing to put him up against, he’s pretty much the toughest guy out there. Negotiations with Elio Rojas fell through. One supposes there’s always Celestino Caballero, but one almost has to sigh him off as unavailable since Top Rank isn’t going to put Gamboa or their other featherweight winner Juan Manuel Lopez against him, which has become all too sadly apparent. HBO too doesn’t care to force those fights for the time being, since Lopez has an upcoming date with Rafael Marquez.
Despite being very talented, Gamboa doesn’t really have a claim to his WBA super champion belt, but he has it all the same. He took the interim belt from journeyman Jose Rojas and was promoted to “full” titlist, and then was given the “Super” title after a few more bouts with relatively unqualified competition.
As Salido holds the IBF belt, this will be a unification bout, and winner can claim to be unified champion.
Salido, who is always game, will be willing to put up a fight, but has had wars at 29 that have taken a lot out of him. He is not incredibly fast, strong, or good. He’s a tough guy who makes for good fights.
Gamboa, on the other hand, is jacked with talent. Of all the Cuban fighters in line waiting to go to the next level, including Erislandy Lara and Guillermo Rigondeaux, he’s still the one most likely to become a truly exceptional pro fighter. When he lets his combinations go he is stunning, and he barely misses. While he doesn’t have incredible knockout power, his speed and sense of cutting out angles in the ring makes him almost unbeatable.
Salido has a lot of experience, but he’s going against a buck who’s quickly approaching the peak of his game. He’s bound to get hit, and to get hit often. If Gamboa can stop him inside of the 12 rounds, it will mark the first time Salido hasn’t gone the distance in a loss in ten years. But whether by decision or KO, look for Gamboa to remain undefeated.
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