Highlights: Roman upsets Salido, Ogawa and Vargas win on HBO

Last night’s HBO Boxing After Dark tripleheader provided the action and drama that was hoped for, particularly in the main event, where Mickey Roman upset Orlando Salido in a super featherweight slugfest.

Roman (58-12, 45 KO) stopped Salido (44-14-4, 31 KO) in the ninth round, dropping him three times in the process.

Kenichi Ogawa (23-1, 17 KO) won a highly debatable decision over Tevin Farmer (25-5-1, 5 KO) to claim the vacant IBF super featherweight title. Farmer outlanded Ogawa, and BLH had the fight clearly in his favor, but two of the official judges disagreed.

In the televised opener, Francisco Vargas (24-1-2, 17 KO) returned with a victory over Stephen Smith (25-4, 15 KO), winning a technical decision in nine rounds when the fight was stopped due to Smith’s mangled ear.

All of these fights shake up the division a bit, as we have a new titleholder in Ogawa, a returned Vargas looking good, and Roman, who goes from fringe contender to legitimate contender with his win. The division was also in action last night on ESPN, where Vasyl Lomachenko, considered the clear No. 1 man, defeated Guillermo Rigondeaux, so it was a busy night at 130.