The long-awaited rematch between WBO featherweight titleholder Orlando Salido and Juan Manuel Lopez is tentatively set for March 10 in Puerto Rico, according to Miguel Rivera of BoxingScene.com. Showtime would televise.
Salido (37-11-2, 25 KO) upset Lopez (31-1, 28 KO) in a cracker of a fight last April in Puerto Rico, taking both his belt and his undefeated record in the process. Lopez has chased a rematch ever since, and wanted one immediately, but couldn't land one.
Meanwhile, Salido and his team took their time and extended the big break as much as they could, without risking too much in interim fights. Salido has faced and defeated Kenichi Yamaguchi and Weng Haya in two title defenses. But though the fight was not made with the intent of taking a risk, Salido went down twice against Haya (14-5, 8 KO) on December 17, and the feeling may be that it would be better to take the money risk against Lopez than press their luck picking the wrong opponent in a small fight.
As for Lopez, the 28-year-old power puncher has fought just one time since losing to Salido, and barely fought when he did, defeating Mike Oliver in a predictable two rounds on October 1. Though he will probably be the betting favorite going in, rust may be a real factor in the rematch for Lopez, and frankly if he hasn't fixed his inability to get out of the way of a right hand, he's still going to get hit a lot, and we know Salido can hurt him.