By Jake Donovan
From the moment hopes of a third fight with Roman Martinez were dashed, Orlando Salido and his team have aggressively pursued a showdown with recently crowned unbeaten super featherweight titlist Francisco Vargas.
The movement officially has legs.
“It would not be an inconvenience for Orlando ‘Siri’ Salido, a former world champion, to be classified an acceptable challenger if he is available,” said Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council (WBC) of such a showdown.
Vargas claimed the WBC super featherweight belt in a thrilling 9th round knockout of Takashi Miura last November. The unbeaten boxer from Mexico had to overcome an early knockdown, severe bruising and lacerations to rally back and dethrone Miura in a fantastic in-ring war hailed by many – including BoxingScene.com – as 2015 Fight of the Year.
Neither side is contractually bound to a rematch, as Vargas was the mandatory contender. Sanctioning bodies do not allow exclusive rematch clauses for mandatory title fights. Given that, Vargas is permitted to a voluntary defense while the WBC establishes a new mandatory challenger by the time such a fight is due in August.
There were talks of a possible sequel – if only to create the perception of Vargas having multiple options. However, even the WBC has urged both fighters to first take on separate bouts before once again going head-to-head. In a recent statement, the sanctioning body noted that “[a]lthough there's no issue with a direct rematch between Francisco "Bandido" Vargas and Takashi Miura, World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman is advising them to each take another fight before re-uniting, re-kindling and re-igniting their primary primed confrontation.”
While neither fighter has yet to commit to an interim fight, Vargas has a hot one in front of him if he and promoter Golden Boy Promotions are willing to accept.
Salido – a former two-division champ – was angling for a third showdown with Martinez, against whom he lost and fought to a disputed draw in their two fights in 2015. Their first fight saw Martinez – who’d just returned to the ring the prior December following a 13-month hiatus – claim Salido’s WBO title with a decision win last April in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
As memorable as was the clash, Part Two was perhaps even better. Their return go landed in Las Vegas, with Salido – who was two months away from his 35th birthday at the time of the fight – turn back the clock in delivering a whirlwind attack over 12 non-stop rounds of action. Martinez did his best to keep pace, but was considered extremely lucky to retain his title by fight’s end.
There was enough action and controversy to come of the night to spawn demand for a third fight. The two sides engaged in on-again, off-again negotiations over the last week of 2015 and into the first part of the new year. A major sticking point in the initial round of talks was Salido traveling to Puerto Rico, though a stance on which the veteran boxer – who celebrates his 20th anniversary in the pro ranks come this March – eventually softened if it meant the fight getting made.
His change of heart came too late in the eyes of the World Boxing Organization (WBO), who ordered Martinez, its super featherweight champion, to defend against mandatory challenger Miguel Berchelt. A purse bid hearing was held on January 12 in New York City, with Zanfer Promotions – who promotes Berchelt and Salido – winning the rights to the fight.
Literally no sooner than when the purse bid concluded, on-site representatives from Zanfer began banging the drums for Salido to land a title shot of his own in an all-Mexico clash with Vargas.
The media ate it alive, with stories running on BoxingScene.com, UCNLive.com and other outlets in not only pondering the thoughts of such a fight, but demanding that it happens in 2016. Network brass from American cable giant HBO – whose Pay-Per-View arm aired Vargas-Miura and later replayed on its flagship station – recently informed a group of reporters in Los Angeles of its willingness to carry such a fight, whether as an HBO main event or in chief support to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’ May 7 HBO PPV headliner in Las Vegas.
Of course, both sides would have to negotiate such a fight. An early victory comes in the form of unbridled support from the WBC.
“The WBC leaves its doors open to Siri Salido,” notes Sulaiman. “He is a warrior in the ring, a very strong fighter with all the merits to (be granted a title fight with) Vargas.”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
