Orlando Salido vs. Rocky Martinez: Fight Time, Date, TV Info and Preview

If there is one thing that you should know about Orlando Salido, it's that he's fearless. 

The 34-year-old Salido (42-12-2, 29 KOs) is wading deep into enemy territory on Saturday, as he is set to defend his WBO World super featherweight title against Puerto Rican slugger Roman "Rocky" Martinez (28-2-2, 17 KOs) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

Needless to say, the crowd should be quite hostile to Salido, who hails from Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico.

This is Salido's first defense of his super featherweight title and first bout in nearly seven months. Salido won the belt with an 11th-round knockout victory over Terdsak Kokietgym in September 2014, a thrilling, vicious bout that featured seven total knockdowns, including trips to the canvas for both fighters in the first round.

Salido has had plenty of time to recover from that brutal bout, and his matchup against Martinez should prove to be a treat for fight fans looking for plenty of pace and action. 

Here's a look at the key info for the bout.


Salido vs. Martinez Fight Info

Date: Saturday, April 11

Location: Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Time (ET): 9 p.m.

TV: Pay-per-view only (Check with cable/television provider)

Salido may have 12 losses in his career and be in his mid-30s, but he's one of those fighters who seems to get better with age.

Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

The Mexican warrior has lost just three times in the last decade, the latest defeat coming to the undefeated Mikey Garcia in January 2013 via a technical decision. Since then, Salido has won his last three bouts, including an impressive win over two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko and the aforementioned war against Kokietgym. 

Martinez's recent boxing record is a bit spottier than Salido's, with a loss and a draw in his last four bouts and some very close decision victories.

The 32-year-old mauler has held the WBO world super featherweight title twice in his career. He lost the title to—who else?—Garcia by eighth-round knockout in November 2013. Since then, he's rebounded to defeat unheralded Herbert Quartey by knockout in December, and now he has a chance to once again hold the hardware that has defined so much of his recent career.

While Martinez is clearly chasing a title, Salido might be after a bit more than just holding onto some boxing hardware: respect. 

Speaking to Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole, Salido expressed his disappointment with the fact that he earns far less than some of the bigger names in boxing:

"

It's nothing I dwell on, but I do feel badly about it because we're all professional boxers and I know I give the fans who pay to see me fight as the same or more entertainment as those guys do. But that's life. There's not much I can do about it, so I'll just keep fighting hard and making people want to see me.

"

Iole also noted Salido has made a habit of putting on entertaining bouts and taking on difficult assignments within the squared circle:

"Going places others fear to tread is how he's made his living. If former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson is 'The Road Warrior,' then Salido can take the Spanish version of the name. Call him 'Guerrero de Carretera.'"

Salido's willingness to venture into difficult matchups for the sake of entertaining the fans shouldn't take anything away from Martinez. The latter has done a fine job of taking on fighters with excellent records even when the stakes were at their highest, from his bout with Garcia to wins over Diego Magdaleno or Miguel Beltran Jr.

UCNLive.com's Steve Kim also noted recently that Martinez has proved doubters wrong in the past:

Still, it's Salido's swashbuckling attitude that may give him an edge in this one. Both fighters love to attack and be aggressive, but the titleholder should have absolutely nothing to fear after his test against Kokietgym.

He's the one forcing the issue, dead set on making each and every punch count and each fight worth stepping between the ropes. Look for him to call up a knockout blow late in this bout and hold onto his title, and perhaps earn himself an even better payday in the future.