| Fight Date: | March 1, 2014 |
| Location: |  Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, United States |
| Fighter1: |  Orlando Salido |
| Nickname1: | Siri |
| Record1: | 41–12–2 (28 KO) (1 NC) |
| Hometown1: | Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico |
| Height1: | 5 ft 6 in |
| Weight1: | 128+1/4 lbs |
| Style1: | Orthodox |
| Recognition1: | Former WBO featherweight champion |
| Fighter2: |  Vasiliy Lomachenko |
| Nickname2: | Hi-Tech |
| Record2: | 1–0–0 (1 KO) |
| Hometown2: | Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine |
| Height2: | 5 ft 7 in |
| Weight2: | 125+1/4 lbs |
| Style2: | Southpaw |
| Recognition2: | 2-time Olympic gold medalist |
| Titles: | vacant WBO featherweight title |
| Result: | Salido won via 12-round split decision |
Orlando Salido vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko, was a boxing bout for the WBO world title. The bout was held on March 1, 2014, in San Antonio, Texas, United States.[1] The fight was televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing.
Had Lomachenko won the bout, he would have broken the record set by Thailand's Saensak Muangsurin, who won a junior welterweight world title in his third pro fight in 1975.
Lomachenko lost a controversial split decision[2] to a fighter that failed to make weight (and thereby vacated his belt) who weighed, post weigh-in, 147 lbs., 21 pounds over the fight limit. Two judges had it for Salido, 116–112 and 115–113, while the third had it for Lomachenko 115–113. ESPN.com had it 114–114. Lomachenko, for his part, stated he felt the decision was "fair" and accepted blame for not following through with his corner's game plan, promising to learn from the experience and come back stronger.[3]
Lomachenko went on to tie the record for fewest bouts to a professional championship two months later, besting undefeated Gary Russell, Jr. for the WBO featherweight belt in his next match, on June 11, 2014.
Lomachenko is a Ukrainian professional boxer who became two-time Olympic gold medalist and a winner of gold medals at the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships and 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships.[4] At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games he was awarded the Val Barker Trophy.[5]
Lomachenko is being regarded as one of the best amateur fighters of all time.[6]
Lomachenko wanted to fight for a world title in his pro debut, but that was not possible.[2]
Salido, 33, of Mexico, failed to make weight and was stripped of his belt at the weigh-in. He was 128¼ pounds, well over the 126-pound limit.[2] And he weighed 11 pounds more than Lomachenko at the start of the contest.
Boxing Insider, "Salido showed up heavy for the fight. Really heavy. One hundred forty-seven pounds heavy."
Bad Left Hook: "A few things worked against him [Lomachenko]. Orlando Salido not making the fight's weight limit of 126 pounds and then rehydrating up to 147, compared to Lomachenko's 136."
In addition to criticizism of low blows by Salido, the referee of the fight, Laurence Cole, was roundly criticized by many boxing media-outlets for his perceived failure to properly conduct the match:
This was the latest in many controversies surrounding Cole, whose father Dickie Cole is the long time boxing commissioner of Texas.
According to Boxing Insider, "Seriously, the guy had one fight – just one fight – to his name when he got a crack at the WBO Featherweight title. It was unheard of. It was beyond unheard of. In fact, it was literally a first," thus the attempt still being a record of its own.[8]
Many boxing magazines mentioned that the referee allowed Salido to deliver an inordinate number of low blows. Salido was also criticized for failing to make weight and some sources stipulated that he did so intentionally, as well as coming back much heavier than Lomachenko on the fight night.