Orlando Salido decides to unretire after just a few days

It was a short-lived retirement for Orlando Salido, if you can even call it a ‘retirement.’

Right after Salido was knocked out by Miguel Roman in a thrilling fight on HBO this past weekend, Salido announced in the post-fight interview that he was calling it quits. Salido attributed his loss to accumulated wear and tear on his body after being through so many brutal battles.

But now, just days later, Salido has had time to reflect on his decision and has thought better of it. Salido says he will indeed continue fighting and that his retirement decision was just made in the heat of the moment, as reported by ESPN.

"On Saturday night I let my emotions and my frustration get the best of me," Salido said from his home in Phoenix. "It was a tough fight, and I as not able to do some of [the] things [I've] always been able to do in the ring that I attributed to my age and wear and tear on my body from so many wars.

Salido now says he believes his struggles to make weight were the main cause for coming up short against Roman, and says he came into his training camp at his highest weight ever. Because of this, Salido says his training camp was mostly focused on simply losing weight, instead of on actual boxing.

"I felt that I left my fight at the scale," Salido said. "No excuse, but one fight in 18 months did not help me stay in shape, and getting to the weight was the biggest concern for my fight, and while I am happy with the fight that I gave the fans, I truly believe that I can do better, so I am keeping my options open to returning in 2018 at 130 or 135 pounds. Sometime after a fight and in the heat of the moment, things are said that, upon reflection, are not the correct things to say. I want to get back into the ring to give my fans some more thrills as I believe I still have some good boxing left."

Instances like this are why it’s difficult to put 100% stock into what any retirement decision a fighter makes immediately following a bout. Adrenaline and emotions are usually running high, the fighter is usually battered and bruised, and I’m certain they genuinely mean what they say — in that exact moment.

But once they get some time to reflect and think about it, sometimes they feel differently. Everyone is entitled to change their mind, I suppose, and this is just the latest instance in what is oh-so-common in this sport of boxing.