Orlando Salido vs. Orlando Cruz
On Saturday night in Las Vegas the last two men to beat Manny Pacquiao will face off against each other. That should prove to be a great fight, but another fight that has the chance to be special is a 12 round bout in the featherweight division that once again renews the best rivalry in boxing, Mexico vs. Puerto Rico. The fighters representing those countries will be Mexican warrior Orlando Salido and proud Puerto Rican Orlando Cruz. This fight should be especially volatile because of the trash talking leading up to it. That trash talk has been centered around that Cruz is an openly gay man who came out about a year ago. During his training camp Salido has been using a pink heavy bag in reference to Cruz's sexual orientation.
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| Salido's career may be heading downhill |
Salido will enter the ring with a big advantage in the experience department having fought many more rounds and at a higher level than his opponent Cruz. However all of those rounds may have already started to take their toll on Salido. In his last fight against future P4P star Mikey Garcia, Salido was dropped four times before the fight was stopped in the 8th round due to an accidental headbutt. When the scores were announced they all had Salido losing by a wide margin. Salido has fought for a long time and has tested himself against some of the best in the sport, including Juan Manuel Marquez, Robert Guerrero, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Juan Manuel Lopez, always giving a good account of himself. Salido has a career record of 39-12-2 with 27 knockouts and has always fought in typical Mexican fashion, all offense and a ton of blood and heart. Salido isn't very concerned with defense, he likes to make every fight a brawl at close range and he has often paid the price for that style, being knocked out five times. Salido is only 32 years old but he seems to be a very old 32 years old. He will always come to fight and give fans an exciting bout but father time may be knocking down his door and he may now be to faded to fight so courageously.
One man who hopes that father time is overtaking Salido will be his opponent on Saturday night, Cruz. Cruz should be very fired up for this fight not only because he is fighting a Mexican but also because Salido has been so disrespectful about his sexual orientation. Another point of motivation for Cruz is the fact that this will be his highest profile fight since coming out and should be a great platform for him to show it doesn't matter if a fighter is gay, straight, or bisexual, the only thing that matters when you enter the ring is talent. Earlier in his career Cruz's talent was a big question mark, he beat the fighters he was supposed to but lost back to back fights when he stepped up his level of competition. But this new "out" Cruz is a very different fighter. He seems to have a new found confidence and it showed in his last fight when he destroyed Aalan Martinez via 6th round knockout and dropped him four times during the fight. Cruz's career record is 20-2-1 with 10 knockouts and he is 4-0 with 3 knockouts in his last four fights. Cruz is a southpaw who is very active in the ring. He loves to move side to side, frustrating his opponent and uses a ton of head movement. This style should be effective against the older and slower Salido. Cruz has very fast hands and unleashes them out of nowhere, one second he is dancing around the ring and the next he is landing a hug power shot. Whichever fighter imposes their style on the other should win this fight.
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| Cruz has been very impressive since coming out |
Salido should start this fight by being the aggressor as he tries to cut off the ring from Cruz and keep him in the corners and up against the ropes. Meanwhile Cruz will be trying to keep the fight in the center of the ring where he can make use of his quick footwork and head movement. The biggest question mark going into this fight is just how much does Salido have left after so many ring wars and if Cruz is actually as good as he has looked recently. One key to scoring a fight is ring generalship, which is controlling the pace and style of the fight and whichever fighter dominates the ring generalship should win this fight.
PREDICTION: Even though both fighters are the same age Orlando Cruz is a much younger 32 and his speed and movement should be to much for Salido to overcome. I expect Cruz to drop Salido on a few occasions but the tough Mexican veteran will show a tremendous amount of heart and go the distance. Orlando Cruz wins this fight via unanimous decision.
Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Jose Ramirez
Admittedly this isn't the most stacked PPV card but that doesn't mean there aren't some major storylines. Besides Mexico vs. Puerto Rico and gay vs. homophobic this card will also feature the professional debut of Vasyl Lomachenko the two time Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine. Lomachenko will be taking on Jose Ramirez in a 10 round featherweight fight. While Lomachenko and Ramirez are both 25 years old Ramirez is much more experienced as a professional already having fought 28 times.
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| Can Lomachenko be a successful professional? |
Lomachenko is one of the most prolific amateur boxers in the history of the sport. He won gold medals in China and London and also won a gold medal at the 2009 World Amateur Championships and another gold medal at the 2011 European Amateur Championships. Lomachenko finished his amateur career with an outstanding record of 396-1 and avenged his only loss twice. However amateur boxing is much different from professional boxing and Lomachenko will need to make some style adjustments if he wants so be successful and grow his fan base. He is a southpaw who loves to move, move and move some more. His footwork is excellent and at times as an amateur he looked more like a dancer than a boxer. But Lomachenko's movement isn't running from his opponent, he can also stand toe to toe and still not get touched. He is one of the most technically sound boxers in recent memory and has the hand speed and punching skills to match his elite defensive talents. Lomachenko is signed with Bob Arum's Top Rank promotional company and they plan to get him a title shot very quickly if he wins his professional on Saturday. That being said it is clear Top Rank doesn't view Ramirez as a real threat or he wouldn't be in the ring.
Ramirez should enter the ring feeling disrespected which could make him a very dangerous man. Ramirez has the hand speed and power to compete with Lomachenko but his defense is sorely lacking. Often times when Ramirez throws a power punch he leaves himself wide open for a counter punch and against a skilled boxer like Lomachenko that could be deadly. Ramirez has a career record of 25-3 with 15 knockouts so he clearly has the advantage as far as professional experience but he has never fought anyone near the talent level of Lomachenko. This fight is really a showcase for Lomachenko and surely Top Rank expects him to run through Ramirez. For his own sake hopefully Ramirez used this as motivation during training and steps into the ring ready for anything.
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| Ramirez has fast hands and surprising power |
Clearly this fight is all about Lomachenko. The biggest storyline during the fight will be whether or not Ramirez can give him any resistance or if Lomachenko will dominate him from the opening bell. If Lomachenko wins this fight and looks impressive he should get a shot at the featherweight title very soon. However Top Rank does have some experience with Olympians making their professional debut and not looking spectacular in China's Zou Shiming. Shiming is 2-0 as a professional but hasn't really impressed anyone outside of his native China. Lomachenko will look to avoid similar problems and starting fast and landing some heavy punches will certainly help him do just that.
PREDICTION: Vasyl Lomachenko should easily dominate this fight. Yes, there is a chance that Ramirez catches him with a quick power punch that could drop him but the more likely scenario is that Lomachenko makes Ramirez look very slow and drops him at least once. I think Lomachenko will look very impressive in his debut and win this fight via unanimous decision.
Seanie Monaghan vs. Anthony Caputo Smith
The fight that will kick off this PPV card should be a good 10 round scrap in the light heavyweight division. That fight will feature two fighters with only one loss between them, "Irish" Seanie Monaghan and Anthony Caputo Smith. While neither fighter is very well known Monaghan is a big draw in his home state of New York and usually makes for an exciting fight.
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| Monaghan's right hand is his biggest weapon |
Monaghan has only been fighting professionally since 2010 and is already 32 years old so he needs to keep winning and looking impressive if he ever wants to rise in the ranks of the light heavyweight division. For a fighter with such little professional and amateur experience Monaghan has surprisingly good defense. He stays very calm in the ring with his hands held high and looks to walk his opponent down and land his monstrous right hand. This will be the biggest stage of Monaghan's career and a win would catapult him into much larger fights. His career record is a perfect one of 18-0 with 11 knockouts and come Saturday night he will look to add one more win and one more knockout to his resume.
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| Can Smith handle Monaghan's right hand? |
For his part, Smith will be looking to avoid helping Monaghan pad his record. Smith isn't the fastest fighter in the world, something that is spotlighted by the fact that he usually enters the ring with a little water in the basement, meaning he isn't always in the best shape physically. Also Smith often forgets to stay home on defense when he goes on the attack which is something he will need to improve if he hopes to avoid the knockout at the hands of Monaghan. Smith is a tough fighter and has an impressive record of 14-1 with 10 knockouts but most of those fights have come against low level opposition and Monaghan will represent the biggest challenge of his career. Smith will need to focus on his defense and bodywork if he wants to upset Monaghan.
PREDICTION: Seanie Monaghan is just to talented for the slower Smith. Smith's only career loss was a TKO and I expect this one to go that direction. Monaghan's defense will be to good for Smith to figure out and Monaghan will win this fight via 4th round knockout.
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