Juan Manuel Marquez vs Orlando Salido

Mexico’s WBA and IBF featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez retained his championships by a unanimous 12-round decision over Orlando Salido at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on September 18, 2004. The contest formed part of the programme headed by Bernard Hopkins’s middleweight championship victory over Oscar De La Hoya. Both Mexicans weighed the featherweight limit of 126 pounds. Marquez entered with a record of 42 wins, two defeats and one draw, while Salido, appearing in his first world-title contest, stood at 23 wins, eight defeats and two draws.

For Marquez, the bout came four months after his demanding draw with Manny Pacquiao. He had been knocked down three times in the opening round of that contest before recovering sufficiently to make the verdict disputed. Salido presented a different problem. He was strong, durable and accustomed to fighting at close quarters, but he did not apply the steady pressure for which he later became known. His caution allowed Marquez to establish the distance and pace without being forced into unnecessary exchanges.

Marquez controlled the first half of the contest with his jab, movement and accurate counter-punching. He remained balanced as Salido advanced and was generally able to step away from the challenger’s attacks before answering with straight punches. Salido followed rather than cutting off the ring, and his failure to work consistently gave Marquez time to select his openings. The champion’s right hand was particularly effective after the jab, while short combinations to head and body enabled him to finish many of the early exchanges with the cleaner blow.

There was little sustained action during the middle rounds because Salido continued to wait too long before attacking. Marquez was not wasteful. He seldom led with more than two or three punches and was content to let the challenger come forward, draw his lead and reply. Salido had occasional success when he shortened the distance and worked to the body, but he did not sustain it. By the completion of six rounds, the champion had built a substantial lead through accuracy and ring control rather than weight of punching.

Salido increased his activity in the seventh and produced his best work of the fight to that point. He moved forward with greater purpose, threw in combinations and made Marquez give ground more often. The challenger continued to press during the later stages and finally began to resemble the rugged fighter who would subsequently win featherweight championships. Marquez, however, remained composed. When Salido attacked, the champion answered between punches or moved off at an angle, preventing the challenger from turning his late pressure into a decisive change in the contest.

The closing rounds were more competitive than the opening half. Salido’s strength and persistence enabled him to take some of them, but he had conceded too much ground earlier and never seriously hurt the champion. Marquez continued to land the sharper counters, particularly when Salido approached in a straight line. There were no knockdowns and no significant fouls. Both men remained in sound condition through the final bell, with Salido still advancing and Marquez meeting him with compact combinations before moving clear.

All three judges returned substantial margins for Marquez. Duane Ford scored the bout 118–110, while Glen Hamada and Raul Caiz Sr each had it 117–111. Referee Tony Weeks had little cause to intervene beyond the ordinary separation of the fighters. The decision accurately reflected Marquez’s command of the greater part of the contest. Salido finished with determination, but his passive opening and failure to sustain pressure had left him with too much work to recover. Marquez retained his two championships through superior timing, precision and judgment of distance, completing a disciplined defence against a challenger whose best years were still ahead of him.

This was Juan Manuel Marquez at his most disciplined. Four months earlier, he had climbed off the floor three times against Manny Pacquiao and boxed his way back to a draw. Against Orlando Salido, he faced another hard Mexican, but this was a completely different sort of contest.

Salido later became one of boxing’s great spoilers, the sort of fighter nobody wanted unless the money was right. Fans loved him because he was tough, physical and always willing to work. Here, though, he showed Marquez far too much respect and surrendered the early rounds through inactivity.

Marquez did not need to take chances. He controlled the distance with his jab, drew Salido forward and punished his slow feet with straight rights and compact combinations. His balance was the difference. After punching, he was either ready to counter again or already moving out of range.

Salido improved from the seventh round onwards and finally began applying proper pressure. He worked harder to the body and made the champion give ground, but by then the damage had been done on the scorecards. You cannot concede half a world-title fight to a technician as clever as Marquez and expect to retrieve it late.

The scores of 118–110 and 117–111 twice were fair. Salido was never embarrassed, but he was comfortably beaten. What makes the fight interesting now is knowing what he later became. He developed into a far nastier, more relentless operator, while Marquez showed why even elite pressure fighters struggled to solve him.