Erik Morales and Orlando Salido donating money to COVID-19 relief in Mexico

Former boxing champions Erik Morales and Orlando Salido are both donating to local COVID-19 relief in Mexico, looking to aid their communities in a time of need.

The 41-year-old Salido, who last fought in 2017, was elected to Sonora state legislature in 2018 and last week made the decision to donate his salary as an elected official to area families, purchasing nonperishable items to those in need.

“Here in my hometown there are folks who get by on very little, washing cars, to support their families,” Salido told ESPN. “I come from a humble background, born in poverty, and I improved my situation thanks to boxing. It gave me the good things that I have.”

Salido fought from 1996-2017, with a career record of 44-14-4 (31 KO), winning two world titles at featherweight. He’s also to date the only man to defeat Vasiliy Lomachenko as a professional, winning a split decision over Lomachenko in 2014, when the Ukrainian made the bold move to fight for a world title in just his second pro bout. The belt went vacant after as Salido had missed weight, but Salido is often seen as deserving credit for showing Lomachenko how different the pro game could be with roughhouse veteran tactics.

The 43-year-old Morales told ESPN that he’s giving away three months’ salary to help locals in Baja California, and he’s also contemplating a charity exhibition bout against his old rival Marco Antonio Barrera. Morales has recently been working as the lead trainer for Jaime Munguia, a rising star in Mexican boxing and an unbeaten former titleholder at junior middleweight.

Morales, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018, won world titles at junior featherweight, featherweight, junior lightweight, and junior welterweight, going 52-9 (36 KO) in his career from 1993-2012.