The first of two world title fights in the US this weekend is a battle of Orlando's as former world champion Orlando Salido (39-12-2-1, 27) takes on the openly gay Orlando Cruz (20-2-1, 10) in a battle for the vacant WBO Featherweight title, and probably the honour of being Vasyl Lomachenko's next target (if Lomachenko himself defeats Jose Ramirez on the same show).
For the experienced Salido, a 32 year old Mexican veteran fighting in his 10th world title bout, this is another chance to move back to the top. A chance to put a painful loss to Mikey Garcia behind him, and a chance to earn another major pay day. Despite having been in some 54 pro bouts, and against some big names like Juan Manuel Marquez, Robert Guerrero, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Juan Manel Lopez and Garcia, another pay day could go a long way.
On the other hand for Puerto Rican Cruz, also 32, this is by far his most notable bout. It's his not only his first world title bout but also his first really high profile bout since coming out as gay, becoming the first active boxer to do so. A victory here for Cruz would make him the first openly gay world champion and arguably a figure head for gay sportsmen, especially in such a "manly" sport as boxing.
Although this is Cruz's first world title fight, it's not the first time he's faced a world level boxer, having been stopped early doors by multi-time world champion Daniel Ponce De Leon back in 2010. Since the loss to Ponce De Leon however Cruz is 4-0 (3) having beaten the previously unbeaten Michael Franco in a round and the once promising Aalan Martinez in 6, stopping a man who had reached the final bell with Evgeny Gradovich.
Those who have followed the sport over the last decade will know all too well what Salido is about. Technically he's "solid" but well below genuine world level though what he has is grit and determination, a genuine toughness and the ability to break fighters mentally as well as physically. He gets most opponents into a war and he beats them in the trenches by taking their best shots.
The tactics of Salido have worked against some impressive names, such as Lopez and Guerrero (despite a highly controversial drugs test) though have seen him undone against the speed and explosiveness of Gamboa and the hard straight counter punching of Garcia.
It's also worth noting that despite having 12 losses on his record Salido is widely regarded as one of the genuinely top fighters at Featherweights on the planet. This is due to the fact that many of those losses came early in his career. In fact he was 11-7-2 after just 20 fights.
Cruz however is a little less well known. In fact Cruz's main claim to fame isn't what he did in the ring but the fact he came out as gay. Despite that he has been a decent fighter, though perhaps "decent" is the fairest description of the Puerto Rican as opposed to something like "world class".
The most notable victories on Cruz's record are not just the ones over Franco and Martinez but he also holds one over the then 30-0 Leonilo Miranda. These are the solid sort of wins that could get someone world ranked, though shouldn't make some one eligible for a vacant title. Unfortunately part of me thinks he's only getting this chance due to the fact that he is now high profile due to his sexuality.
With the sheer class difference of the two men it's hard to view anything but a stoppage win for Salido. He is, at worst, just as good as Cornelius Lock the first man to defeat Cruz and at best on par with Ponce De Leon, the second man to defeat Cruz. Cruz might try hard, and have some early success but will eventually be broken down and defeated in the middle or later rounds.
Prediction-Salido TKO8
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