Salido wins IBF title by unanimous decision over Guerrero
Las Vegas – Too much too soon.
Robert “the Ghost” Guerrero said that if he had to do it all over again, he would have taken more time off between fights.
“I take my hat off to Orlando Salido because he came to fight,” said Guerrero, who relinquished his International Boxing Federation featherweight title when he lost by unanimous decision Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center. “I wasn’t myself. I was a little exhausted in the ring, as everyone could see. I need to go back to the drawing board.”
Salido fought like the veteran he is, crowding Guerrero to keep him from using his reach advantage and keeping the Gilroy fighter from landing his vaunted left hook with any frequency.
“He fought a great fight,” Guerrero, 19-2-1, said. “He was very well prepared and well rested. I’m not going to say I wasn’t prepared. I felt overworked. My body felt drained. He is no pushover. He was the No. 1 contender for a reason.”
It took a well-conditioned fighter because Guerrero was prepared to go the distance. He just wasn’t able to get to Salido as easily as he caught Aiken.
“I wanted to feel what it was like to be a world champion,” Salido said after winning by 2, 6 and 8 points on the judges’ cards. “I know what it feels like now.”
After a slow start, Salido quickly established himself by positioning himself to Guerrero’s left and in close so the former champion couldn’t use his reach advantage. Guerrero threw a stinging left hook to end a first round he won on all three judges’ cards.
But Salido, 25, dictated the pace from midway through the second round. He landed a solid overhand right in the third round as fans on one side of the arena shouted “Robert, Robert,” while on the other side they shouted “Siri, Siri (Salido’s nickname).”
During the middle rounds, Salido seemed quicker to the punch. He fought almost in a shell-like stance which made him a difficult target. Salido backed Guerrero into a corner in the 10th round and a sharp right jolted the Gilroy fighter. By then, Salido was in control of the fight.
“It was not an easy fight,” Salido said. “It was a very hard fight. Guerrero is a tough fighter. I learned a lot from the championship I lost (to Juan Manual Marquez two years ago in Las Vegas) and trained a lot harder in preparation for this fight.”
At 28-9-2, Salido’s record is not as impressive as Guerrero’s mark. But the 10-year veteran now has the IBF belt.
