BAYAMON, PUERTO RICO — Top Rank’s slow build to a Lopez-Gamboa superfight went up in flames Saturday night courtesy of Orlando Salido, who spoiled Juan Manuel Lopez’s homecoming with a shocking 8th round stoppage win.
Salido saw from the first round that Lopez was wide open for right hooks. The challenger landed several in the opening three minutes but failed to win the round due to Lopez landing cluster of straight lefts. That punch’s accuracy would carry over to the second round, but Salido adjusted and scored well by working Lopez’s body.
Lopez’s best round came in the third. He timed Salido with right uppercuts and hooks to the body. Salido’s right was still a danger but failed replicate its earlier impact. In round four, Lopez went back to the straight left and got caught with a succession of three overhand rights. Lopez nodded and tried to initiate a brawl to steal the stanza.
The fifth round was disaster for JuanMa and his fans. Salido pressed forward and dropped Lopez hard with a right hook. Lopez beat the count but took a short pasting before just barely surviving the round. The one-minute interval was not enough, as Lopez was still stumbling and getting hurt under Salido’s barrage of right hooks in the sixth. Another knockdown seemed imminent, but Lopez again managed to hang on.
The Puerto Rican fans had seen Lopez survive wild brawls before. They cheered in a frenzy to will their man forward in the seventh. This made Lopez more reckless with his power punches. At one point, a Lopez straight left backed up Salido. Despite winning the round, Lopez still appeared in danger of going down from the next solid punch.
The atmosphere served to inspire Salido, who came out for the eighth like a bull. He immediately went inside and abused the champion with hooks downstairs. Lopez, against better judgment, tried to brawl up close and was hurt again with a short right hook. Lopez’s attempts to fire back had him stumbling and walking into hooks that violently snapped his head back and forth.
A final left hook was enough to cause referee Robert Ramirez Jr to stop the fight even with Lopez still punching back. A clearly angry Lopez had to be restrained by his corner.
“I knew he was slowing down,” Salido stated, notching the biggest win of his career and rebonding from the December loss to Yuriorkis Gamboa. “I wasn’t prepared against Gamboa. I’ll give him a rematch depending on what the promoter says.”
Lopez admitted that at the time of the stoppage, he still hadn’t figured out how to avoid Salido’s right. However, he felt the referee didn’t give him a chance for a comeback.
“He was hitting me but I was still conscious,” Lopez explained. “The punch in the fifth hurt but I did recuperate… I couldn’t block that punch.”
The win gives Orlando Salido (35-11-2, 23 KOs) recognition as the WBO featherweight champion. Juan Manuel Lopez falls to 30-1, 27 KOs, his title reign ending after three defenses.
On the undercard, Luis Cruz (18-0, 14 KOs) maintained his undefeated record with a 10 round decision over Martin Honorio (26-6-1, 15 KOs). Final scorecards read 100-90, 96-94 and 98-92.
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Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 
To settle the controversy of Salido’s victory, the latter should give Juanma a rematch. That way, the fans of Juanma would be satisfied. But I know Juanma’s defense is wanting. He can punch right, he’s technically good, but he can,t take a punch. He should recuperate for a while though before plunging to a rematch with Salido. I think it’s premature yet to match Salido with Gamboa. The former has to have one more fight before taking on the very talented Gamboa.