Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas - In a super featherweight clash between Mexican sluggers, Miguel Roman (58-12, 45 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez picked up the biggest win of his career with three knockdowns to secure a ninth round stoppage win over four-time world champion Orlando Salido (44-14-4, 31 KOs) from Ciudad Obregon.

At the moment of the knockdown, Roman was winning the fight on all three scorecards and on his way to a decision win. The fight was, as advertised, a brutal war for as long as it lasted.

The loss is a huge setback for Salido, at the advanced age of 37, because he was hoping secure title fights with Vasyl Lomachenko and Miguel Berchelt in 2018.

Salido started very slow in the first round, but badly hurt Roman with a big right hand in the final seconds. Salido continued to take the fight to Roman in the second round. Roman was not really throwing a lot of punches back. Roman was trying to mostly target the body, while Salido was landing the heavy leather to the head. In the final minute, they both landed some big punches to the head and body at close range and Salido was shaken by a right hand.

They were trading away in the third round. Salido was digging to the body and landing the cleaner punches.

During the fourth round, Roman started coming on when he landed a combination that sent Salido down. Salido was able to weather the storm by the end of those three minutes.

The faces of both fighters were swelling up as they continued to battle in the fifth. It was two-way action in the sixth. There was leather flying from both boxers, with each fighter looking to do some real damage. Both had their moments in some very action-packed exchange. In the seventh, Roman may have had a minor edge in a round that could have gone either way as the punches continued to shower down from both to the head and body.

During the eight, Roman was pressing forward, throwing heavy shots and really taking the fight to Salido and dropped him with another series of big punches. Salido beat the count, but this time he was really hurt and Roman jumped on him with huge shots. Salido was able to survive in what seemed to be a miracle and was throwing back in the final ten seconds.

In the ninth round, Roman continued to bring the action to Salido, pressing forward and trying to stop the veteran. Roman landed another series of punches on Salido against the ropes for a third knockdown - and this time the contest was waved off by referee Robert Byrd as Salido was badly hurt.