Orlando Salido wins war with Terdsak Kokietgym, seven knockdowns in all

Orlando Salido had to get off the canvas not once, not twice, but thrice, and in the end managed to take over his fight with Terdsak Kokietgym, knocking him out in the 11th round of a two-way war tonight in Tijuana, Mexico, winning the interim WBO super featherweight title.

Salido (42-12-2, 29 KO) was down in the first, second, and fifth rounds, while Terdsak (53-5-1, 33 KO) was floored in the first, fourth, seventh, and eleventh frames. The first round knockdown against Terdsak appeared to be a low blow that referee Eddie Claudio missed, and he also went down in the fourth round, but it was ruled a slip, and apparently rightly so. (I thought it was legit at first, but was corrected, looked back, and yes, the legs were tangled.)

There was also a brief bit of confusion toward the end of round six, with Salido pouring on pressure with Terdsak against the ropes. Claudio broke the action up, thinking he had heard the bell. That led to Salido celebrating, thinking he'd gotten the stoppage, including a cornerman running in to lift him into the air triumphantly. But the fight resumed, and there would be four more rounds and change of brawling, with Salido from that point firmly in control.

Here's my scorecard:

Salido, 33, certainly didn't show great punch resistance in this fight, but he got the job done against a mid-tier opponent. Does he have a bright future at 130 pounds? It's hard to tell with a guy like Salido, who has had the habit in the past of fighting up and down to competition, and even if he gets knocked down, he constantly gets back up and wars on. He's one of the toughest men in a sport filled with tough men.

And for Terdsak, this was arguably a career-best showing in defeat, as he went to war with a high-level fighter. While knocked out, he gave himself every chance to win this fight.