by Cliff Rold, photo by Chris Farina

Orlando Salido was knocked out five times in his first fifteen fights. Entering bout number 16 in July 2000, Salido was 8-6-1.

He’s not been knocked out since. It’s one of the qualities that had made him one of boxing’s most valuable veterans. Salido teeters on the brink often, and he doesn’t always win, but for almost sixteen years he has always gotten up. Considering his last nine fights, that is truly remarkable.

Thirteen knockdowns suffered in nine fights with a 7-2-1 mark; Salido came back to win three of the fights where he was dropped by knockout himself. The draw, in his rematch with Roman Martinez, should probably have been a win. Four of those nine fights (Juan Manuel Lopez II, Terdsak Kokietgym, and both fights with Martinez) were legitimate Fight of the Year candidates.

Fans will tune in tonight to see if there is another classic in the gas tank. The ingredients are there. Neither Salido-Martinez fight could capture top honors in 2015 because Salido’s opponent tonight stole their thunder. Francisco Vargas-Takashi Miura also stole the show on the undercard of Saul Alvarez-Miguel Cotto.

When two guys with that track record face off, batten down the hatches.

Should this fight be happening? That’s a question worth asking. Vargas tested positive for the PED clenbuterol casts a shadow. The issue of steroid tainted meat in Mexico is real; it can also be a convenient alibi. Vargas has since tested clean but at what point does boxing embrace a zero tolerance policy? There is an air of selective enforcement here versus the recent halting of a bout between Deontay Wilder and Alexander Povetkin. It shouldn’t be as glossed over as it has been. All fights, and fighters, should be held to the same standard.

Until they are, the PED problems in boxing will remain a gross stain on the sport.

That doesn’t change the likelihood for violence tonight. 

Let’s go the report card.

The Ledgers

Francisco Vargas
Age: 31
Title: WBC super featherweight (2015-Present, 1st Attempted Defense)
Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’8
Weight: 129 ½ lbs.
Hails from: Mexico City, Mexico
Record: 23-0-1, 17 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 1-0, 1 KO
Rankings: #1 (TBRB, ESPN, Ring, BoxRec), #2 (BoxingScene)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 2 (Juan Manuel Lopez RTD3; Takashi Miura TKO9)

Vs.

Orlando Salido
Age: 35
Title: None
Previous Titles: IBF featherweight (2010); WBO featherweight (2011-13, 2 Defenses; 2013-14)
Height: 5’6
Weight: 130 lbs.
Hails from: Phoenix, Arizona (Born in Mexico)
Record: 43-13-3, 30 KO
Record in Major Title Fights: 5-5-1, 3 KO, 1 No Contest (6-5-1, 4 KO, 1 No Contest including interim title fights)
Rankings: #4 (Ring), #6 (ESPN), #7 (BoxingScene), #8 (TBRB), #10 (BoxRec)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 11 (Alejandro Gonzalez L10; Alfred Kotey UD10; Juan Manuel Marquez L12; Cesar Soto W10; Robert Guerrero NC12; Cristobal Cruz L12, UD12; Yuriorkis Gamboa L12; Juan Manuel Lopez TKO8, TKO10; Mikey Garcia L8; Vasyl Lomachenko SD12; Roman Martinez L12, D12)

Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Vargas B; Salido B
Pre-Fight: Power – Vargas B+; Salido B+
Pre-Fight: Defense – Vargas C+; Salido C
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Vargas B+; Salido A 

Vargas enters this one both the naturally larger man, no matter the edge on the scale to Salido, and the younger one as well. He won’t stay young long with his style. Even in wiping out Lopez in 2014 to start his rocket to contention, Vargas was taking a lot of hard shots. It was will, more than skill, that allowed him past Miura last year. He got off the floor in the fourth and was behind on the cards. The surge he found to finish was breathtaking stuff.

It was the sort of thing Salido has made old hat. Coming off the floor to war is his stock and trade. The veteran is more skilled that often realized. His defense was got pretty good at peak and he still slips and picks off more shots than he gets credit for. It’s what allowed him to last this long. When he failed a PED test after his win over Robert Guerrero in 2006, it would have been hard to believe we hadn’t just seen his career highlight slip by. A decade later, he’s still here.

His defense hasn’t improved with age. He gets caught clean, and hard, and falls in seemingly almost every fight these days. His power bails him out, as does his tremendous reservoir of courage. The ring character he displays, his intangibles, have offset his aging legs. Will they continue to on Saturday (HBO, 10:30 PM EST)?

Vargas has shown serious closing power as well. Neither of these men is going to shy from a fight. Who can take more? That’s going to determine the winner.  

The Pick

No one gets up forever. Orlando Salido has escaped disaster for years but eventually age and wars catch up. This looks like it could be that night. Outside the Lomachenko win, Salido hasn’t beaten a quality fighter on the way up in some time. Martinez and Kokietgym were both veterans like himself. Vargas, while coming off a war, has nowhere near the miles. What he does seem to have is a pretty good beard and every bit the desire to win Salido does. Both men may see the floor early but Vargas will impose his size as the fight moves along and he’ll have better legs beneath him as the rounds go by. The pick is Vargas around the eighth round in a fight more one sided than some were hoping for.      

Report Card and Staff Picks 2016: 21-7

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com