Orlando Salido: “Right now I feel like I did before my fight with Juan Manuel Lopez.”

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    On October 12th in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center Orlando Salido will once again get his chance in the spotlight when he challenges Orlando Cruz for the vacant WBO title. The title became vacant when the former champion Mikey Garcia moved up to Super Featherweight relinquishing the title. Salido fought Garcia for the title in January of this year but after Garcia suffered a broken nose due to an accidental headbutt, the fight was stopped and Garcia was awarded the Technical Decision. Now Salido has another opportunity to become a world champion once again. 

    After the Garcia loss many counted Salido out, he is ready to show that he has a lot left in the tank. “I know the fight with Mikey I wasn’t myself.  It was a tough night.  But that’s in the past and I know what I’m capable of doing.  Right now I feel like I did before my fight with Juan Manuel Lopez and I think you’re going to see that same type of fight from me on October 12,” stated Salido. 

    Salido is grateful for his shot at redemption and is not underestimating his Cruz, he stated, “It’s been great preparation and I am grateful for the opportunity that Top Rank has given me to win another world title.  I know that Orlando Cruz is a very difficult fighter, he’s a great boxer, and I know that he has a lot of abilities.  I have been getting real good sparring here because I know it is going to be a very difficult fight.”

    Often when assessing the situation on how a fight will turn out, fans look at past fighters to gauge what the most likely outcome will be but Salido feels Cruz and Garcia are not similar in the ring  “They are totally different fighters.  Orlando is a boxer and he tries to move around the ring.  My job is to put pressure on him.  I will try to cut him off and I will be throwing so many punches I will hit him somewhere.  Then I will go to the body to cut him down and eventually I will make him fight my fight.”

    Salido is no stranger to big fights, counting this fight he has been in 10 title fights altogether. In this fight Salido feels his experience at the highest level of boxing will play a major role towards the outcome. “I have been in there with some great champions.  I won some and I lost some and I did gain great experience fighting them.  I just feel for this fight it will be whoever is better prepared.  We are both hungry.  We both want it.  It’s just a question of who is going to be the best that night and I think I will be.”

    Salido in the past has hit the canvas quite a few times, in his last fight against Garcia he was knocked down four times, but he understands that once you hit the ground you have to get back up. “There are some strong punchers out there,” he continued. “The question is, what are you going to do?  I am going to get up and try my hardest.  It happens in boxing.  You just have to get ready.  You prepare yourself by training for each fight – do the best you can in the ring so you can do the best you can in the ring.”

    In October when Salido and Cruz enter the ring, the boxing world will reignite the Mexico versus Puerto Rico rivalry, and Salido is preparing to stay undefeated against all the fighters he faced that have come from the island. “I think about what I have done against Puerto Rican fighters.  I am 5-0 against them and looking to make it 6-0.  I know how to fight them and my experience helps me to do that and I’ll be ready for anything that happens in the ring based on my experience on what I have done in the ring against them,” he stated.

    Salido is excited about being on Pay Per View and is ready to showcase his skills in front of this country and the world. “I think you are going to see another great fight between two guys that really want it and leave everything they have in the ring.  I want to wish Orlando Cruz luck and you can’t beat Puerto Rico vs. Mexico in the ring.”