“I don’t really know much about him.  All I know is that he has been talking a lot, how he has going to give me a beating.  But what I have seen of him, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary that I should worry about,” cool, calm and collected WBC #4 ranked flyweight Omar Salado (19-0-2, 11KO) shares when asked about his latest challenge in #4 ranked Julio Cesar Miranda (25-3-1, 18KO) in a WBC flyweight eliminator.  The scheduled twelve round affair is in support of the WBC/WBA unification super flyweight bout between Cristian Mijares and Alexander Muñoz this upcoming Saturday night from Durango, MX.  No stranger to the world stage, Salado in mid ’06 battled Ulises Solis to a draw in a challenge for the latter’s IBF Jr. Flyweight title.

“I was offered this opportunity in the 108 lbs division and I decided to take it.  It was tough fight and unfortunately I was not given the win although I felt that I finished the fight stronger than Solis.  I think the fight was very close and my hometown fans were not thrilled with the result but that fight is the one that opened the doors for me to where I am today.”

Salado has fought as heavy as 115 lbs. but feels more comfortable in the lighter flyweight division “I feel good at 115 lbs.  I won the WBA Fedelatin super flyweight title in ‘05 but decided not to defend it and I recently won a light flyweight eliminator for the WBC against Gilberto Keb Bass but didn’t go after the title because my ideal weight is 112 lbs. that is where I feel the strongest and the best at.”

Originally from Acapulco, MX, Salado made the trek north like many of his country men looking for greener pastures.  He settled in the border town of Tijuana, MX, where he has resided for the last five years.  Taking part in his first amateur fight at the age of nine, the now twenty eight year old retired from the sport for a short period before taking it up again in junior high school “there was a man down the street from where I lived in Acapulco who trained so many of my friends and I decided to take it up but I am the only one that continued this far with it…”

“I am ready to fight the style that is presented to me, if my rival wants to go toe to toe, I am ready and if he wants to box, I can do that too,” Salado states confidently.  “First thing first, I have to win this elimination and then go after the champ, it that means traveling to Japan, I am ready.”

By Felipe Leon, SDFights.com