Depending on the particular lens that is used, Orlando Salido
could be perceived in vastly different (and appropriate) manners by boxing
fans. From one perspective, he has become perhaps the preeminent action fighter
of his generation. His memorable battles with Juan Manuel Lopez, Vasyl
Lomachenko, Terdsak Kokietgym, Roman Martinez and Francisco Vargas have provided enthusiasts of
the sport with many-a-night of satisfaction.
Through another prism, Salido is a drug cheat, testing positive
for a steroid after his 2006 win over Robert Guerrero. And while it's true that
Salido is not necessary an outlier as far as using performance enhancing drugs
during his era, it's worth remembering that this is boxing and not track &
field or baseball. People can die in boxing. This isn't getting an extra jolt
while handing off a baton or hitting a baseball 15 more feet. The ramifications
of PED use in boxing can lead to grievous bodily injury and it's certainly
conceivable that the Guerrero fight wasn't the first or last time that Salido
used a prohibitive substance to gain an edge.
From a different vantage point, Salido is the ultimate throwback
fighter, one who will literally get in the ring with anyone, often as a
"B-side" and for short money. Whether it's facing a bona fide,
first-ballot Hall of Famer (Juan Manuel Marquez), perhaps the best amateur
boxer of his time (Lomachenko), preeminent young fighters (Guerrero, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Mikey Garcia) or just garden-variety badasses
(Roman Martinez, Robinson Castellanos, Rogers Mtagwa), Salido will fight
anybody. And not only will he take on all comers but he'll usually extract his
pound of flesh. Even in fights where he's been outgunned by superior
talents, he's still had his moments of glory, knocking down Gamboa and coming
on strong against Garcia before the fight was stopped. His bouts are often
thrilling affairs and during the last six years or so, he has become appointment
television.
Without blinding speed, a jab or any kind of reach,
Salido still finds ways to impose himself on opponents. Comparing Salido's
skills to those of better talents such as Lomachenko and Lopez, it's
practically inconceivable that he earned victories over them. He's been regarded as a gatekeeper, a "live-dog," an inconvenience to his
promoters and a spoiler of many dreams.
Top Rank, who promoted many of Salido's fights, must feel ambivalent
towards Salido. On one hand, he provided the company and (mostly) HBO with many
thrilling nights of action. However, he also ruined one of their potential stars (Lopez), broke the nose of another (Garcia), dropped a third (Gamboa) and momentarily
derailed the hype train of a fourth (Lomachenko). If Salido is a
"friend" to Top Rank, who needs enemies?
Yet there's also another reality when considering Salido: he's one
of the dirtiest fighters in boxing. Going low repeatedly against Lomachenko and
committing a variety of fouls in the Kokietgym fight and the first Martinez
bout, Salido is one of the modern masters of boxing's dark arts. Head butts,
nut shots, rabbit punching, elbows to the face, forearm grappling, hitting on
the break and holding-and-hitting, Salido has done it all. This type of conduct
turns off many boxing fans. When facing a faster opponent, he will do all in
his power to corral an opponent, whether through legitimate means or by
infraction.
Many boxing fans believe that with a competent referee (not Laurence Cole) Salido
would never have gotten away with the incessant fouling that allowed him to
build an early lead against Lomachenko. Others object to Salido coming into that fight significantly overweight and that he didn't make a legitimate attempt
to lose the weight – certainly not very sporting behavior.
However, even the controversies surrounding the Lomachenko fight
seem unimaginable from the nascent days of his career. Turning pro at 15,
the Mexican was immediately thrown to the wolves. After his first nine fights,
he was just 5-3-1. In his seventh bout, still at the tender age of
16, he was placed in a ten-rounder, an inconceivable thought for an
American-based fighter. He was knocked out five times in his first 15 matches,
including by a 9-21 boxer. Yet, somehow he emerged to headline bouts on HBO. His story would be a modern fairy tale if he were a more sympathetic figure.
Perhaps there isn't a better example of perseverance in modern
boxing than Salido's. No promoter coddled him. There wasn't a signing bonus of
note to smooth things over early in his professional career. No one cared if he
won or lost in his early fights. He was a dime-a-dozen boxer who filled out the bottom rungs of fight cards for meal money.
By 2001, he made his way to U.S. to start boxing north of the
border and he has fought the majority of his bouts since then in America. He
obviously learned a lot from his early boxing struggles and wasn't discouraged by his
rough start; I'm sure many others would've retired in a similar position. Now,
at 35, he's had 61 bouts including multiple world titles at featherweight and has fought
in at least 13 championship fights (depending on how you characterize the
various sanctioning bodies' machinations). In short, he's had a hell of a
career and one that was unexpected from its humble origins.
Salido didn't become a household name in boxing until
around the age of 30, usually when lower-weight fighters start to decline,
often precipitously. In the last six years, he's been down 14 times – a truly
remarkable number – and yet he's remained a player at the top levels of boxing.
Over that time, he's amassed a record of 9-3-2, with losses only to Gamboa,
Garcia and Martinez. Often counted out or considered on the slide, he
continues to be a major factor at the world-level.
Despite being overly familiar with the canvas, he's never been
knocked out as an "adult" fighter. Like his great countryman Juan
Manuel Marquez, Salido has a seemingly never-ending supply of intestinal
fortitude. You can hurt him, send him down but he keeps coming back. In the
Garcia fight, Salido might as well have been Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees;
he looked dead more than once but he kept rising to stalk his prey. More than a
few suggested that Garcia and his team decided to end the fight with a big lead
instead of dealing with Salido for the championship rounds.
So what to make of him? How does one get an appropriate gauge on
his career and legacy? He's a warrior, a cheater, an overachiever, a champion,
a trickster and one of the roughest dudes in the business. Some will never
support a fighter who used a PED. Others excuse his steroid intake because he
provides thrilling action. Another section abhors his dirty tactics in the
ring. Yet so many boxing enthusiasts would never miss one of his fights.
Boxing fans love to make morality plays. Passing judgment on fighters
might even rival our love of boxing itself. This fighter wears the white hat;
this boxer represents everything wrong with the sport – heroes and villains,
the familiar trope. Everything's so definitive. Yet Salido destroys this
dichotomy like it was Juan Manuel Lopez. He provides lessons to young fighters
about never giving up but he also put his fellow combatants in serious,
life-threatening danger by taking performance enhancing drugs. He's survived
poverty, professional neglect and the politics of boxing to truly make
something of himself and he has amassed a devoted following. But even many of his
supporters in quieter moments would admit a bitter taste in their mouth regarding
some of his choices and tactics.
Salido's legacy epitomizes complication. Not all bad or good. He's a proud warrior but yet one of our nastiest ones. He's also a late-bloomer who bucked the odds and anything standing in his way.
Perhaps Salido is the ultimate Rorschach test. The moralists abhor
him. The relativists love him. The humanists root for him while those who want
a clean and honorable sport wish he'd simply fade away. He's inconvenient, a
problem and someone to take very seriously. And he's also a real fighter, a proud
man and has made a definitive impact in the sport.
In the final analysis, is there no room
for gray? Can we not hate the sin but love the sinner? Or are his sins too
great for mercy? Can we stomach a middle ground? The limits of judgment become
abundantly clear when "Siri" Salido is involved. Can peace be made
with that reality?
Adam Abramowitz is the head writer and founder of saturdaynightboxing.com.
Adam Abramowitz is the head writer and founder of saturdaynightboxing.com.
He is also a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
@snboxing on twitter, SN Boxing on Facebook
Contact Adam at saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com
Contact Adam at saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com
