Orlando Salido vs. Rocky Martinez: Winner, Scorecard and Reaction

There is a new WBO World super featherweight champion in boxing, as Roman "Rocky" Martinez (29-2-2, 17 KOs) defeated titleholder Orlando "Siri" Salido (42-13-2, 29 KOs) by unanimous decision in 12 furious rounds on Saturday night at the Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

The judges scored the fight 114-111, 115-110 and 116-109, all to Martinez, per RingTV.com's Ryan Songalia.

The fight, simply called "The War," truly lived up to its billing, as both men expended a tremendous amount of energy over the course of 36 minutes of adrenaline-pumping action. 

Martinez, utilizing his length and speed to great effect, scored two early knockdowns in the third and fifth rounds. Salido never stopped pushing Martinez, firing punch after punch at his opponent's body—some coming a bit too low for the official's liking, to the detriment of his scorecard—but was unable to bring down or overpower his granite-tough foe.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Snowden felt the fight was well worth the pay-per-view cost:

"

Man, I promise you nobody who bought Salido vs. Martinez regrets a single penny of that money spent. #boxing

— Jonathan Snowden (@mmaencyclopedia) April 12, 2015"

It's a quick trip back to title glory for the Puerto Rican Martinez. He lost the WBO world super featherweight title to Garcia in November 2013, but just two bouts later is champion of the class once again.

This is Salido's first loss since a January 2013 bout against Mikey Garcia that ended with the latter winning in the eighth round via technical decision. According to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, the Mexican Salido was 3-0 in his career fighting in Puerto Rico coming into Saturday's bout.

“It doesn’t bother me to come to fight in Puerto Rico,” Salido said prior to Saturday, per Rafael.

One now has to wonder if the 34-year-old will ever come back.

UCNLive.com's Steve Kim gave a look at the prizefighters at the start of the bout:

After a cagey, measured first round, the two fighters got down to their hard-swinging business in the second.

Salido nearly scored a knockdown when he landed a straight right flush on Martinez's abdomen, causing the latter fighter to stumble backward before bouncing back off the ropes, still on his feet.

A breathtaking, phone-booth-tight exchange against the ropes late in the second earned Martinez a chorus of "Rocky" chants from the highly partisan Puerto Rican crowd, even though it was hard to say who got the better of the exchange.

Martinez controlled the third round, stalking Salido around the ring and showing no fear in the face of the well-traveled brawler. Martinez's aggression paid off toward the end of the frame. Two quick jabs followed by a crunching straight right to the chin sent Salido crashing to the mat, the sight of it drawing a frenzied roar from the crowd.

Martinez's early success may have gotten to Salido, as the 34-year-old boxed angry for the remainder of the bout.

Hunched over, shaved head down and hands close to his face, Salido burrowed his way through Martinez's defenses, scoring a fine three-punch combo punctuated by a right uppercut midway through the round.

This observer commented on Salido's fight style:

Salido couldn't quite keep his hands to himself after the final bell, throwing a couple of shots at Martinez and forcing the official to pull the two boxers away from each other. 

Kim gave an update on what was working well for both boxers after the fourth:

Martinez scored another knockdown at the end of the fifth, flooring Salido with a quick-strike combination. Salido, visibly shaken, had nothing to give back to a hard-charging Martinez after he got on his feet, but was saved by the bell and survived to the sixth round.

There was no stopping the insatiable Salido from powering forward, and he did well to attack Martinez's body with both hands. Still, Martinez's punches were coming faster than Salido's, particularly his defensive jab.

As the fight wore on, Martinez, knowing his two knockdowns likely gave him an advantage on the cards, started to dance across the canvas more and avoid the standstill exchanges of the earlier rounds. A rampaging Salido may have engaged in some extracurriculars late on, per Songalia:

Martinez still managed to dazzle with some late-round exchanges, including a hard right at the end of the seventh that sent Salido into the ropes and a right hook seconds before the bell in the ninth that stunned the Mexican titleholder. 

Salido dug into Martinez's body for much of the 10th round, likely attempting to soften up his opponent for a potential knockout blow in the final two rounds. Indeed, the bullish Salido went for the skull more in the 11th, although he did himself no favors with a low blow that lost him a point, per Kim:

Salido kept powering forward like a crazed butcher in the 12th, ripping away at Martinez's flesh in a desperate attempt to steal the bout. Martinez, steely as could be in the wake of such unrelenting punishment, held on until the final bell and earned his victory on the cards.

He may have lost the title, but Salido has certainly proved he can be as entertaining as any boxer in the world this late in his career. He drew praise for his epic slugfest against Terdsak Kokietgym in September 2014, and he proved he still has much of the same moxie in his loss to Martinez.

Martinez's career receives a well-deserved jolt after Saturday, as he proved to be equally adept fighting in close range or on the move against Salido. A bout against the likes of Francisco Vargas or Adrian Estrella could prove to a fine draw for boxing fans.

However, boxing fans might be clamoring for a rematch between these two, as the action was fairly even aside from the two knockdowns.