Boxing Coverage on Sherdog.comVargas-Salido Ends in a Majority Draw
It didn’t take long for the orientation to finish. After the first
two-and-a-half minutes, what everyone expected between WBC super
featherweight champ Francisco Vargas and rugged Orlando Salido
erupted. They were so close at times you would swear that they
would fuse together at any moment.
Vargas ended with severe cuts over both eyes. The top of Salido’s head looked like moon, with bumps and craters all over.
So there’s no argument that Vargas-Salido ended in a majority draw
at the StubHub Center, in Carson, California.
Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs) retained the WBC super featherweight title, while Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs) continues to be a hard-luck fighter.
“I think it was a great fight that the fans liked, unfortunately, the cuts (above both eyes) are from (Salido’s) head,” Vargas said. “We made adjustments late in the fight (and decided to box more). I’m very happy and I’m looking for more challenges. Right now, I need to relax for a bit.”
Total punches bore out the volume of activity. Vargas landed 386-1,184 total shots (33%) to Salido’s 328-939 (35%). As for power punches, Vargas connected on 299-776 (39%) power shots to Salido’s 316-817 (39%).
“There was a close margin, but I felt I won,” Salido said. “We banged heads at some point, and those are punches though (that caused the cuts over Vargas’ eyes).”
Vargas got the better of the first two rounds. He imposed his size and will on the smaller Salido, despite slinging wide shots. There were a few Vargas uppercuts that smacked against Salido’s midsection, and Salido would land an occasional counter.
In the third round, they stood within inches of each other and slugged away at each other’s bodies. And again, it was Vargas’ uppercuts chipping away at Salido’s resolve. But Salido began turning the sway of the fight in the fourth, crowding Vargas, banging lefts to the body. A cut opened on the top of Vargas’ left eyelid, and a bruise started to form on the bridge of his nose.
Salido, meanwhile, began to come more forward, and he was the one driving back Vargas. Salido hit Vargas with everything, his fists, his shoulders, his hard, bald head, they kept coming at Vargas like a rock with five prongs.
Neither relented in the fifth.
The one major change was Vargas was the one coming at Salido, pushing his will against the smaller fighter. But the cut over Vargas’ left eye started leaking. It left crimson blotches on the back of Salido’s head. The 35-year-old, however, was trailing three rounds to two.
Fifth-round stats bore the tenor of the fight. Vargas landed 35 of 115 punches, to Saldio’s 29 of 89 shots. Of the 204 punches thrown in the round, there was only one jab.
When Vargas crushed Salido with a right hand right on the top of the head in the sixth, it appeared Salido was in some trouble. Vargas tried to finish right there, and couldn’t do it. That left Salido a chance to rebound. He did. He crept inside and started banging away again at Vargas’ body. Vargas may have come away with the round, just barely, though for sustained action, it was a round of the year candidate.
With just under two minutes left in the eighth, referee Raul Caiz Jr. took a close look at Vargas’ left eye, after the two fighters clashed heads. Salido’s wide shots had a way of finding Vargas’ head. As the eighth was winding down, Salido bounced three punches off Vargas, whose work rate had slowed considerably.
It could be conceivable some may have saw it four rounds apiece after eight, but Sherdog had Vargas holding a 5-3 edge after eight.
Vargas looked like he seized control of the fight in the ninth. He used his superior size, backing up and pecking away at Salido, keeping him at the end of his punches. Vargas threw 55 jabs in the ninth, and the stick gave Vargas a 6-3 lead on the Sherdog scorecard.
In the 10th, Salido slipped, as Vargas beat Salido at his own game, tapping Salido inside and creating more distance on the scorecards. For the first time in his career, Vargas entered the 11th round. Salido, possibly sensing the fight slipping, hit an energy switch, because his pressure may have won the round. Still, it seemed, Salido needed a knockout to win entering the 12th round.
He didn’t get it. But Vargas had a facet of blood pouring down the left side of his face.
Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.
Vargas ended with severe cuts over both eyes. The top of Salido’s head looked like moon, with bumps and craters all over.
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Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs) retained the WBC super featherweight title, while Salido (43-13-4, 30 KOs) continues to be a hard-luck fighter.
Judge Jerry Cantu is the one judge who had a winner, scoring
115-113 for Vargas. His decision was overturned by judges Lou Moret
and Hubert Minn, who each had it 114-114 apiece.
“I think it was a great fight that the fans liked, unfortunately, the cuts (above both eyes) are from (Salido’s) head,” Vargas said. “We made adjustments late in the fight (and decided to box more). I’m very happy and I’m looking for more challenges. Right now, I need to relax for a bit.”
Total punches bore out the volume of activity. Vargas landed 386-1,184 total shots (33%) to Salido’s 328-939 (35%). As for power punches, Vargas connected on 299-776 (39%) power shots to Salido’s 316-817 (39%).
“There was a close margin, but I felt I won,” Salido said. “We banged heads at some point, and those are punches though (that caused the cuts over Vargas’ eyes).”
Vargas got the better of the first two rounds. He imposed his size and will on the smaller Salido, despite slinging wide shots. There were a few Vargas uppercuts that smacked against Salido’s midsection, and Salido would land an occasional counter.
In the third round, they stood within inches of each other and slugged away at each other’s bodies. And again, it was Vargas’ uppercuts chipping away at Salido’s resolve. But Salido began turning the sway of the fight in the fourth, crowding Vargas, banging lefts to the body. A cut opened on the top of Vargas’ left eyelid, and a bruise started to form on the bridge of his nose.
Salido, meanwhile, began to come more forward, and he was the one driving back Vargas. Salido hit Vargas with everything, his fists, his shoulders, his hard, bald head, they kept coming at Vargas like a rock with five prongs.
Neither relented in the fifth.
The one major change was Vargas was the one coming at Salido, pushing his will against the smaller fighter. But the cut over Vargas’ left eye started leaking. It left crimson blotches on the back of Salido’s head. The 35-year-old, however, was trailing three rounds to two.
Fifth-round stats bore the tenor of the fight. Vargas landed 35 of 115 punches, to Saldio’s 29 of 89 shots. Of the 204 punches thrown in the round, there was only one jab.
When Vargas crushed Salido with a right hand right on the top of the head in the sixth, it appeared Salido was in some trouble. Vargas tried to finish right there, and couldn’t do it. That left Salido a chance to rebound. He did. He crept inside and started banging away again at Vargas’ body. Vargas may have come away with the round, just barely, though for sustained action, it was a round of the year candidate.
With just under two minutes left in the eighth, referee Raul Caiz Jr. took a close look at Vargas’ left eye, after the two fighters clashed heads. Salido’s wide shots had a way of finding Vargas’ head. As the eighth was winding down, Salido bounced three punches off Vargas, whose work rate had slowed considerably.
It could be conceivable some may have saw it four rounds apiece after eight, but Sherdog had Vargas holding a 5-3 edge after eight.
Vargas looked like he seized control of the fight in the ninth. He used his superior size, backing up and pecking away at Salido, keeping him at the end of his punches. Vargas threw 55 jabs in the ninth, and the stick gave Vargas a 6-3 lead on the Sherdog scorecard.
In the 10th, Salido slipped, as Vargas beat Salido at his own game, tapping Salido inside and creating more distance on the scorecards. For the first time in his career, Vargas entered the 11th round. Salido, possibly sensing the fight slipping, hit an energy switch, because his pressure may have won the round. Still, it seemed, Salido needed a knockout to win entering the 12th round.
He didn’t get it. But Vargas had a facet of blood pouring down the left side of his face.
Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.
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