Miguel Roman defeated Orlando Salido on Saturday night (Photo: Ed Mulholland – HBO Boxing)

By Chris Robinson

On Saturday night, from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev., Miguel “Mickey” Roman (58-13, 45 KO’s) scored an exciting ninth round TKO victory over former two-division world champion Orlando “Siri” Salido. (44-14-4, 31 KO’s).

A native of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Roman scored knockdowns in rounds four and eight, before another flurry put Salido down for the final time in the ninth, as the bout was stopped at the 1:43 mark.

“It’s my moment, and I want to fight against any champion,” said Roman afterwards. “I was doing everything well, even though everything is always against me. I want any champion at featherweight or super featherweight, but on HBO.”

Roman trained with respected Southern California trainer Rudy Hernandez for the contest and saw the results.

“The new camp, the good work we did, the good training,” said Roman. “Those changes made the difference and we are all able to see that tonight. Nobody knew, but if I lost, I would have retired. It was very important to fight against a great champion like Orlando Salido and win.”

And as far as retirement is concerned, it is the 37-year old Salido who will now be walking away from the sport, he says.

“I’ve beaten young fighters before, but this time it was a matter of age,” said Salido. “Time takes its toll, and obviously I just couldn’t do it. This was my last fight. Thank you to all, to those who will remember me for all the great fights that I had, and to the people who have followed me.”

Much respect to Salido on a memorable career and here’s to the future of Roman. Hopefully he can get himself some big fights in 2018.

Chris Robinson can be reached at CRobinson@hustleboss.com