ROBBERY IN TEXAS---Lomachenko v Salido Review

Lomachenko v Salido Fight Review

Salido forfeited the WBO featherweight title on the scales. On fight night he came in at an ‘unofficial’ weight of 147 lbs while Lomachenko weighed 136 lbs. Lomachenko was fighting for the vacated title (and $230 000) while Salido for pride (and $235 000).

In the preview of this fight I said Salido has a habit of bending over in a lunging attempt to reach his more fleet-footed opponents. I didn’t think he would take it to this level. This move pretty much became the story of this messy fight. Take a look at the following collage of screenshots: 

Every photo shows Salido leading with the head. Effectively a head butt. These moves are against to rules of boxing. There are 30 photos and these are all taken AFTER the 8th round which was by the time I had lost all hope in the legitimacy of this fight.

There are many more examples of this from the previous seven rounds. Ironically Lomachenko was criticized by the referee and commentators for repeatedly holding. What do you expect him to do when his opponent is burying his head into his sternum? Anyone who has seen Lomachenko in the amateurs knows he hates holding and would not hold unless forced to.

This lunging, leading with the head, headbutt ‘manoeuvre’ pretty much killed the flow of the fight and hence Lomachenko was not able to use his skill with this blatant flaunting of the rules. However the few times the fight was able to flow we could see flashes of his brilliance.

Regardless, I had Lomachenko winning the fight 116-112. Not much different to the judge Levi Martinez (who had it 115-113).

Lomachenko landed more total punches (164 to 142) at a much higher percentage (37% to 22%). He landed less Power shots (105 to 137) but at a much better percentage (44% to 25%). Lomachenko had Salido hurt badly in the 12th while never being hurt himself. This while being outweighed by 10lbs. In other words if you like fighters who swing wildly with little thought you probably thought Salido won. On the other hand if you like fighters who use their superior footwork, balance and defence to get into position to land smart accurate shots you probably thought Lomachenko won. It’s up to you…... What’s that famous quote by Roger Mayweather again (reminder on left sidebar of this blog)?

2 comments:

  1. Finally! You're the first person I've seen mention the headbutts. Salido is an ugly fighter to watch.

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    Replies
    1. Nobody's talking about it. Was beginning to think I was imagining things.

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