Salido vs Lopez Rematch Likely to Be Postponed Until 2012

A rematch between featherweight titlist Orlando Salido and the man he dethroned, Juan Manuel Lopez, is likely to be delayed until the first quarter of 2012. A couple of days ago, it was reported that Salido wanted to push the date back from the working idea of October, so this isn't really much of a surprise.

Salido (36-11-2, 24 KO) defeated Lopez (30-1, 27 KO) on April 16 in Puerto Rico via eighth round TKO, and since then Lopez has been aggressively pursuing a rematch. Lopez wanted the fight in August, but Salido wanted to take a defense at home in Mexico, and successfully did so on July 23 against Kenichi Yamaguchi. Recent reports have suggested that Salido desires another defense in Mexico, and may well have the time to do so now. Lopez is also expected to take a tune-up in order to not accumulate a year or so of ring rust.

One of the main issues appears to be a lack of major American TV dates, which is understandable. The schedules for HBO and Showtime have filled out for the most part, and budgets are fairly tight at this point in the year. This is a main event fight, so expecting it to co-feature when the fight can draw good money at the top of a bill in Puerto Rico or Mexico just doesn't make sense.