By Jake Donovan
A mouth watering clash between Mexican countrymen Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido has been in high demand from the moment it was first suggested. It now stands just a couple of minor details away from becoming a reality.
Talks have accelerated from conception to nearing finalization, now carrying a placeholder of June 4 at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., according to Sean Gibbons of Zanfer Promotions.
“We are closing in on finalizing the Fight of the Year candidate between Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido,” Gibbons told BoxingScene.com.
Once finalized, the bout is budgeted to headline an HBO Boxing After Dark telecast.
News of such progression in talks was first reported by Lance Pugmire of the L.A. Times.
The demand for such a fight jumped off from the moment it became apparent that Salido would not land a sought-after third fight with Roman “Rocky” Martinez. Talks were twice in place for such a fight to happen, only for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) to scuttle such plans absent a written agreement in place, instead ordering Martinez to defend versus mandatory challenger Miguel Berchelt.
A purse bid hearing for Martinez-Berchelt was held January 12 in New York City, won by Zanfer Promotions, who has both Salido and Berchelt. Mere seconds later began the grassroots support for Salido’s next hoped-for fight.
“Now that this one is done, it’s time to bang the drums for a can’t miss fight,” Gibbons told BoxingScene.com at the time on site at Madison Square Garden Theatre. “Orlando Salido versus Francisco – we need to make that fight happen.”
Select media members immediately hit the campaign trail, helping matters along that the fight was immediately pitched to Peter Nelson, HBO’s newly appointed executive vice president who was also on location at MSG Theatre to help promote a February 27 doubleheader featuring Terence Crawford and Felix Verdejo.
Credit goes to Zanfer and Golden Boy Promotions - whom has promoted Vargas since his pro debut – for doing its part to make the fight happen. Talks were underway from mid-January, although Golden Boy understandably wanted to keep its options open for what will be Vargas’ first defense of the World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight title.
The unbeaten boxer from Mexico won the title in spectacular fashion , rallying to knock out Japan’s Takashi Miura last November at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Both fighters showed tremendous courage every step of the way in a fight that was recognized by many outlets – including BoxingScene.com – as 2015 Fight of the Year.
Miura was nearly down and out in the opening round before rallying back to drop Vargas midway through and batter him to the point of facial swelling and cuts putting him one punch away from a stoppage at several points of the fight.
Vargas answered the call in a big way, fighting as if his boxing life depended on it to start round nine. The burst of energy led to his dropping Miura, who beat the count and tried like hell to fight on, only for the memorable slugfest to be stopped moments later.
Not wanting to miss out on his own celebration party, Vargas – after being examined and stitched up at a nearby hospital – returned to Mandalay Bay a couple of hours later out of desire to speak with the media about the fight.
Rest and relaxation has since been on the menu for Vargas (23-0-1, 17KOs), who turned 31 last December. His face still shows subtle traces of the damage absorbed from the fight, though should be fully healed well ahead of early spring when he expects to open training camp.
Other options that were being pursued by Golden Boy included a showdown with Cuba’s Yuriorkis Gamboa – who recently returned to the ring last December following a 13-month break due to a promotional dispute with 50 Cent – and a rematch with Miura.
Instead and to the delight of many fans, Golden Boy instead landed on Salido (43-13-3, 30KOs), the fighting pride of Ciudad Obregon who remains a cult favorite in the sport largely for his willingness to take on all comers.
Having turned pro in March ’96 at age 15, the now 35-year old boxing warrior has enjoyed four title reigns spanning two weight classes, including three separate tours as a featherweight titlist. The last of his three reigns ended at the scales ahead of his March ’04 showdown with Vasyl Lomachenko, the two-time Olympic Gold medalist who was gunning for a title in just his second pro fight. Salido missed weight by more than two pounds, thus leaving the belt vacant after claiming a split decision nod in their foul-filled 12-round affair.
It was Salido’s last-ever fight at featherweight, although his next ring appearance was far more memorable. A seven-knockdown war with Thailand’s Terdsak Kokeitgym ended with Salido scoring an 11th round stoppage to claim the vacant WBO 130 lb. title. in Sept. ’14, with the fight registering high among Fight of the Year contenders for 2014.
His reign was short-lived, conceding the crown to Martinez in his first defense last April on the road in Puerto Rico. Efforts to regain the title were thwarted by the judges, as Salido was forced to settle for a split decision draw in their rematch last September.
When plans for a third fight with Martinez were thwarted – of which Salido was unaware until reading about it on the internet – the marching orders were handed to his team to deliver a fight with Vargas.
Not only has the request been granted, but provided with the backdrop of the StubHub Center, which has become famous in recent years for the number of Fight of the Year-level entrants it has produced.
The next one is now just a couple of signatures away.
“Zanfer and Golden Boy should be commended for pushing for this fight to happen,” Gibbons notes. “Fernando Beltran (Zanfer), Eric Gomez (GBP Vice President) and Oscar de la Hoya (GBP Founder and Chairman) had some great talks in the past few weeks and now we are so close to a done deal for what will easily be a 2016 Fight of the Year candidate."
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox