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(PhatzRadio / USA Today) — In what is undoubtedly a leading fight of the year candidate loaded with non-stop action from start to finish, champion Orlando Salido stopped Juan Manuel Lopez Saturday night at 32 seconds of the 10th round to retain his WBO featherweight title at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

It was the second time Salido, 31, from Mexico, had stopped Lopez in “Juanma’s” home country. Salido scored an eighth-round technical knockout against Lopez last April in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, to knock Lopez from the unbeaten ranks and take his title.

Cheering on the fighters from ringside were Puerto Rican boxing greats Felix “Tito” Trinidad and Ivan Calderon along with Mexican greats Julio Cesar Chavez, Jorge Arce and Juan Manuel Marquez.

This time, Salido (38-11-2, 26 KOs) seemed to know how to attack Lopez (31-2, 28 KOs) from the start and his aggressiveness allowed punch after punch to get through against Lopez, who, like in the first fight, seemed to have trouble defending himself from the Mexican’s onslaught.

Yet Lopez, 28, stood in there and took everything Salido threw at him, uppercuts, overhand rights, left hooks, and Lopez even shocked the crowd by knocking Salido down near the end of the fifth round with a right hook after Salido had dominated much of the round.

Every subsequent round seemed to have more action than the last. Salido landed nearly 100 more punches in the fight than Lopez (235 to 138), yet when the fight was stopped, Lopez was ahead 86-84 in the scorecards of judges Michael Pernick and Cesar Ramos, while judge Denny Nelson had it even at 85-85.

The ninth round was truly one of the best, if not the best, rounds of the year as Lopez took to fighting on the inside. Both fighters stood toe-to-toe exchanging punches, and repeatedly connected to the head and body of the other. By the end of round 9, Lopez looked as though he could hardly stand up, and Salido’s eyes were both swelling badly.

But the Mexican, nicknamed “Siri,” came out aggressively in the 10th, looking for a knockout and got it, at 32 seconds of the round when he landed a hard right, then a left that dropped Lopez in a heap.

The game Puerto Rican southpaw got to his feet fairly quickly, but looked like he was dazed and unable to fight on, and referee Roberto Ramirez Sr. stopped it.

“This is how we planned this fight,” said Salido. “we knew it was going to be a tough fight. We knew he was going to counterpunch and change punches. He’s a tough fighter.

“I knew here in Puerto Rico, to win the decision I needed to land at least 2-1 in punches.”

On the knockdown, Salido said, “I worked with the uppercuts, then the right hand put him down.”

After the fight, Lopez said the fight should not have been stopped when it was, and accused Ramirez of having a gambling problem and that’s why he stopped the fight.

“In the first fight, his son (Robert Ramirez Jr.) stopped it,” Lopez said. “Now the father stopped it. The referee stopped the fight because he had gambling problems.

“I told the commission the referee was a gambler. And they did wrong as putting him as the referee. It was very irresponsible for putting him as the referee knowing he has a gambling problem.”

Salido said he would fight a third time against Lopez if necessary.

Lopez said he believe he was winning the fight when it was stopped and wanted to keep going. “He was very strong in this fight,” Lopez said of Salido. “It was a very tough fight.

“I was dominating the fight. It was a tough fight but I felt I was dominating.

“He was outpunching me 2-1 but I was dominating.”

Asked if he could have continued, Lopez said he stood up and was conscious of what the referee was saying and could have continued.

“I’m sorry for the fans the way this ended, but I still feel the referee had other issues.”

Asked if he wanted another bout with Salido, Lopez said, “Whatever my promoter says, I’m willing to fight with Salido or anyone else.”

Salido said he would fight Lopez a third time, too.

“This is a classic between Mexico and Puerto Rico,” Salido said. “It has always existed in boxing and this time it was my turn to win.”

Garcia stops Concepcion: On the Salido-Lopez undercard, featherweight Mikey Garcia showed that he could be a force to be reckoned with in the future by stopping Filipino Bernabe Concepcion in the seventh round as he connected on several powerful combinations to remain undefeated.

Garcia (28-0, 24 KOs) controlled the fight with a strong jab, connecting on 56 of 276 overall. He connected on 56 power punches and was 112 of 426 overall (25%). He has knocked out his opponent in 11 of his last 12 fights.

Concepcion (29-6, 16 KOs) landed just 38 of 232 punches.

Garcia controlled the fight from the start and was leading 60-54 on all three judges’ scorecards when referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight at 2:33 of the seventh round.

“I think I showed everybody my skills,” said Garcia. “(Concepcion) came in hungry to win, and I think if I had put more pressure on him earlier, it would’ve been a different fight. More of a brawl.

“I think we fought the correct fight, and he was able to stay in there a little longer and he didn’t want to go down easy, so he was able to last that long.”

Asked if he would like to face the winner of the Salido-Lopez fight, Garcia said, “Of course I’m ready to face the winner. I would like to face any of the champions at 126 (pounds). Anybody wants to give me a title shot, I’m game for it.

Boxing: Salido retains WBO featherweight title, stopping Lopez again is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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