On Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, it was a changing of the guard as Miguel "Mickey" Roman (58-13, 45 KOs) made himself a player in the super featherweight division with a ninth round stoppage of two division world champion Orlando "Siri" Salido (44-14, 31 KOs) in a Fight of the Year Candidate.

Salido appeared to be winning the contest until the fourth round, when things began to shift in the other direct when Roman scored a flash knockdown.

Another knockdown was scored by Roman in the eight and this time Salido was very hurt and barely survived. In the ninth, Roman went right back to work and scored a third knockdown - which quickly prompted referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight at 1:43 of the ninth round.

Salido is well known for being a warrior and being involved in numerous Fight of The Year clashes - but the years have not been kind to his body with the countless grueling efforts in the ring.

He admits that his times has clearly passed and there wasn't enough in the gas tank to beat a younger fighter like Roman.

"As they say father time is undefeated. All the wars I had caught up with me [on Saturday]. I am leaving the ring knowing that I gave the fans a great a fight that I can give them. I hope they enjoyed it," Salido said.

“The mind and heart were there, but my body just was not responding.  Roman, is a young fighter who gave his all and I was not able to keep up with him. I just an old fighter now”

Roman is overwhelmed with emotion to gain the biggest win over his career.

“It was a great win against a legendary fighter, I came to fight in a war and that is what it was. A great learning lesson and it will make me a better fighter in the future," Roman said.