By Jhonny Gonzalez & Ernesto Castellanos, notifight.com
The featherweight champion of the World Boxing Organization, Orlando Salido, is relaxing in his native Ciudad Obregon in Sonora, Mexico, and savoring the upset win over previously undefeated Juan Manuel Lopez. The fight took place on April 16 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico and saw Salido stop Lopez in the eight round.
He was doing some very good work in the fight and nearly stopped Lopez in the fifth after a big knockdown. Salido felt that he was well ahead in the fight. He was shocked to find out that all three judges had it scored a 66-66 draw when the fight was stopped.
"They were going to steal the fight. In the last few rounds, I was beating Juanma up. I was so sure that I was ahead by a wide margin, but after the fight I found out he was ahead on the cards [editor's note: it was actually scored a draw]. You could tell that they were going to give it to Lopez in the end, but with a knockout [victory] there is nothing they could do."
"In Puerto Rico, they were betting on which round he was going to knock me out. I was sure of my chances. He gave me opposition in the early rounds, but from the fifth round I knew I would win because he was hurt every time I connected. He was hurt a lot, mainly with body shots. He however, never hurt me," Salido said.
Salido says there are ongoing talks to have a rematch in the month of November. He still hopes to make an optional defense in the month of July in Mexico.