THE BREAKDOWN: Salido-JuanMa II

Published

12 years ago

March 8, 2012

Lee Wylie

THE BREAKDOWN: Salido-JuanMa II – What a difference a fight can make.

Last year, prior to the first meeting between Juan Manuel Lopez and Orlando Salido, Lopez was regarded as one of boxing’s future superstars. Considered by many to be a potential pound for pound talent, as well as a huge box office smash, due to his crowd pleasing style, Lopez could do no wrong. Apart from Pacquiao versus Mayweather, Juan Manuel Lopez versus Yuriorkis Gamboa was considered THE must see fight in boxing, in the eyes of many.

Orlando Salido had other ideas.

In the biggest upset of 2011, the undefeated Lopez, 32-1 [28 kos] was sensationally stopped in the eighth round by 8 -1 underdog Salido, 35-11 [23 kos]. Lopez versus Gamboa has now lost it’s glamour.

This Saturday, at the Calise Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico, the 28 year-old Lopez has a chance of redemption when he gets his rematch with Salido in yet another chapter in the now famous Mexico versus Puerto Rico boxing rivalry. The contest, televised by Showtime, will be for Salido’s 126 pound title.

Up until the Salido fight, Lopez was on the fast track to stardom. Winning his first world title at bantamweight, via a stunning first round knockout over the always tough Daniel Ponce De Leon, Lopez rapidly progressed through the ranks and weights, with successful title defenses against the likes of Gerry Penalosa and Rogers Mtagwa, before moving up to featherweight and continuing his run with wins over Steve Luevano, Bernabe Concepcion and Rafael Marquez.

Contrary to Lopez, the 31 year-old Salido was never considered to be one of boxing’s prodigal sons. He plied his trade the old fashioned way. Suffering numerous defeats, during the early part of his career, Salido seemed barely a C level fighter. However, after a nine fight winning streak, which was eventually halted by fellow Mexican, Juan Manuel Marquez, Salido’s talent was starting to become apparent. His improvement continued with wins over Mtagwa [ in less difficult fashion than Lopez managed ], Robert Guerrero [ later ruled a no contest due to a failed drugs test ] and an avenged loss to Cristobal Cruz, in which Salido claimed the IBF 126 pound title.

Moving on from their last contest back in April of last year, both fighters have failed to impress. Lopez looked less than spectacular whilst stopping light hitting American Mike Oliver in two. Meanwhile Salido was dropped twice on route to stopping Filipino Weng Haya in eight rounds.

THE SCIENCE:

Lopez, a dangerous southpaw, is the owner of knockout power in either hand. Although most of his attacks begin with the right jab, he often leads with power shots, in particular his right hook and overhand left. While Lopez does not invest to the body as much as he should, he is not just a head hunter either. Lopez’ best weapon is his overhand left, which combined with his right hooks and uppercuts, make him one of the better combination punchers in boxing. Once Lopez has an opponent hurt, his size and strength simply overwhelm his opponents. He is among the best finishers in boxing.

Because of his lack of footspeed and less than great skills in close, Lopez, at his best, inflicts the most damage to his opponents at mid-range.

What makes Lopez so captivating to watch is his vulnerability, which is direct a result of his defensive neglect and seemingly poor chin. Lopez’ entire emphasis is on attack, so much so, that he has been hurt in fights [ Mtagwa and Concepcion ] when he really shouldn’t have been. As with a lot of southpaws, Lopez has also looked vulnerable to the right hand. More worryingly, Salido seemed to find a home for it in their last fight.

Technically, there is nothing flashy about Lopez’ movement, he will circle counter- clockwise from time to time, behind his jab. Before marching foward trying to land his power shots. Lopez is always pressing the attack. Despite Lopez preferring to be right in front of his man, he is not comfortable right in close. When he had Concepcion hurt in their fight, he took a step back, almost to regain his optimum distance at which he likes to get his punches off.

Salido, fighting out of an orthodox stance, is a more thinking man’s fighter than Lopez. While he is not a pure boxer, there is a lot more strategy involved in his work. On the surface, Salido seems like the stereotypical Mexican fighter, walking foward behind a high guard, taking two to land one, looking to get inside and land his power shots. Looks can be misleading.

Yes, Salido likes to come foward, yes, he is aggressive, but there are lot of subtleties that can sometimes go unnoticed. Salido is superb at creating punching angles. He achieves this by slipping punches on the inside, and coming back with a counter. Salido also likes to throw punches, away from the target, with the intention of countering straight back, because of his new found angle. While Salido is not a particularly hard puncher, he is an accurate puncher. Because of his limited handspeed, he has been forced to work a lot more on the timing of his punches, something Yuriorkis Gamboa found out during their bout. His overhand right that he likes to throw in close or at mid-range, is by far his most productive punch.

Salido, as proven in the past, is more than capable of fighting bell to bell. His stamina, for a fighter of 31, in a smaller weight class, is tremendous.

Perhaps the most effective part of Salido’s arsenal is his comfort level in close. Granted, he is no Pernell Whitaker, but Salido is not that easy to hit clean. His clarity and experience on the inside enable him to see most of the action amid heavy fire.

THE SCENARIO:

Like their first fight, Salido will again be the underdog. Lopez will be looking to prove the result of their last fight was nothing more than a minor set-back, whilst pursuing bigger and better things. Of course Lopez is capable of winning the fight. His heavy handedness is a “get out of jail free card” if ever there was one. Let’s also remind ourselves that like last time, the fight is in Lopez’ native Puerto rico. At the time of the stoppage, the judges had the fight even going into the ninth round, despite the fact many thought Salido was in control and winning the fight.

In terms of what both fighters require from the other, they both oblige. Although Lopez is the more athletic of the two, neither fighter is blessed with great speed or movement. Neither fighter wants to go looking for the other. They will be right in front of each other, willing to trade shots.

This is the reason why Salido came out on top last time. Salido is by far the more polished fighter in close. He is not as wreckless as Lopez is. Using the last fight as evidence, look at their body shapes during most of the exchanges. Lopez, looking to land his wide power shots in close, was standing square on to Salido, with his feet parallel to his shoulders. Contrast this to the way Salido was standing. Salido, with his right shoulder and left [front] foot, almost in a six o`clock position, was in a perfect position to throw a straighter, less telegraphed right hand.

Simply put, Salido has a better understanding of punching angles than Lopez does. If both fighter’s are throwing at the same time, technical correctness will win the day. Think of Nonito Donaire beating Fernando Montiel to the punch as an example.

Lopez cannot afford to get into a gunslinging contest with Salido again. While Lopez has a significant edge in power, Salido has the edge in precision and poise. There is more craft, than craziness, to his work. Last time out, Lopez was hit over and over by Salido’s overhand right. Lopez had no answer for it because of his lack of head or upper body movement. Suicide, when operating within punching range. Salido on the other hand, often utilises head movement in close. He also likes to dip and bend at the waist on offense and defense.

In order for Lopez to avoid the right hand, he needs to learn how to adapt in the ring. If Lopez goes in with the same strategy as last time, expect the craftier Salido to once again expose Juanma’s defensive flaws. Instead, Lopez should take a look at how Gamboa was successful against Salido. The Cuban was able to keep Salido guessing as to where the next attack was coming from. By using more movement and distance, he made Salido walk to him, which enabled Gamboa to come in from different angles, landing his combinations.

The problem of course, is whether or not Lopez can adjust. If he can, then maybe we will see a more rangy, counterpunching based strategy with more in the way of lateral movement. If not, then we will probably have a repeat of the first leg as Lopez will be standing flat footed, stalking and looking to land his power shots while disregarding his defensive responsibility, as Salido, proving he is the better technician in close, will be landing his right hand all night long.

This really is the last chance saloon for Lopez. Defeat wouldsurely put a fatal bullet in his chances of becoming a major box office performer. For his sake then, let’s hope he doesn’t opt for a gun fight. Salido has already proven that he will be the last man standing if Lopez decides to take that avenue.

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Lee Wylie

Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

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