Garcia-Salka “Fight card” averaged 612K viewers last Saturday on Showtime

garciaBy Dan Ambrose: As expected, last Saturday’s Danny Garcia vs. Rod Salka triple-header fight card on Showtime brought in poor numbers. It was a night of mismatches, and the poor numbers reflect dismal match-making that was done for this fight.

According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, the card averaged 612K viewers. The main event fight between Garcia and unranked lightweight Rod Salka averaged 808K viewers with a peak of 850. This was 17% lower than Garcia’s last fight against Mauricio Herrera, which brought in 972K. The poor match-making for Garcia led to a lower amount of viewers.

The co-feature fight between IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson and #13 IBF Edgar Santana averaged 648K. This too was a mismatch with Peterson hitting Santana at will until the ringside doctor ordered the fight stopped in the 10th.

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Garcia destroys Salka!

Garcia Salka Fight Night-0011(Photo Credit: Amanda Kwok / SHOWTIME) By Bob Smith: In a dominant win last night, WBA, WBC and Ring magazine light welterweight champion Danny Garcia defeated Rod “lightening rod” Salka by a 2nd round knockout. After a quiet round one, in which Rod Salka circled the ring, jabbed and used movement to avoid the left hook of Garcia, Danny Garcia dominated the second round with counter punching and landed the much harder shots to put Salka down three times and achieve the TKO victory.

It was a fight that was hard to watch after the first knockdown from Garcia, who hurt Salka a great deal with a punch in the earlier part of the second round. Salka immediately looked to the referee for protection against Garcia and ended up going down about five seconds later. Following this knockdown, Garcia focused on putting Salka away, and consistently threw very big punches while Salka attempted to hold as much as he could to stave off the attack and to regain some energy and balance.

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Garcia gloats about win over Salka

Garcia Salka Fight Night-0010(Photo Credit: Amanda Kwok / SHOWTIME) By Dan Ambrose: It was clear going into WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia’s fight last Saturday night that he had a tremendous mismatch on his hands with little unranked lightweight Rod Salka (19-4, 3 KOs), but Garcia still couldn’t resist gloating about the victory after having beaten the over-matched fighter in the 2nd round at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Garcia hurt Salka with a right hand early in the 2nd round after having pounded him at will in the 1st. Garcia then dropped Salka hard with a fight hand. He later in the same round knocked him out cold with a left hook to the head. Salka’s trainer was trying to get the referee’s attention to have the fight stopped moments before Garcia nailed Salka with the huge left hook knockout blow to the head, but the referee didn’t see him.

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Danny Garcia: I’m all about fighting the best fighters

Garcia Salka Fight Night-0008(Photo Credit: Amanda Kwok / SHOWTIME) By Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) rebounded tonight from his gift decision over Mauricio Herrera in his last fight by stopping little known lightweight Rod Salka (19-4, 3 KOs) in a 2nd round TKO tonight.

Garcia was like a standup comic after the fight when being interviewed by Jim Gray. Garcia wasn’t trying to be funny but he was nonetheless when he said “I’m all about fighting the best fighters. I leave that up to Al Haymon, but if (Lamont Peterson) wants it he can get it too.”

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Garcia obliterates Salka; Peterson stops Santana; Jacobs defeats Fletcher

Garcia Salka Fight Night-0015(Photo Credit: Amanda Kwok / SHOWTIME) By Jim Dower: WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) totally obliterated the much smaller unranked lightweight Rod Salka (19-4, 3 KOs) in an easy 2nd round knockout on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Garcia knocked Salka down three times in the 2nd round. The fight was halted at 2:31 of the round after flattening Salka with a left hook.

“No fight is easy unless you put in the hard work. My fans love me. It has nothing to do with my opponent, because when Danny Garcia is at his best he can beat anybody,” Garcia said after the fight. “I leave it up to Al Haymon to decide my opponents. It doesn’t matter to me. I show up on fight night and always find a way to win.”

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Garcia needs to put in a Mayweather-worthy performance against Salka

GarciaSalkaFinalPC_Hoganphotos1(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) By Chris Williams: WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia’s fight this Saturday night against Rod Salka (19-3, 3 KOs) is really about Garcia staying in line for a big money shot against WBA/WBC welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2015.

This may be Garcia’s only shot at getting a fight against Mayweather, because he could retire after his contract with Showtime expires at the end of next year. Staying in line for a Mayweather fight is very likely the biggest reason why Garcia’s adviser Al Haymon chose to match him up against such a soft touch in Salka.

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Weights: Garcia 141.75, Salka 141

By Dan Ambrose: IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (28-0, 16 KOs) successfully weighed in today for his 142 pound catch-weight fight on Saturday night on Showtime Boxing against little known challenger Rod Salka (19-3, 3 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Garcia weighed in at 141.75lbs and looked in good shape. He didn’t appear weight drained like some fighters do. Salka came in a pound under at 141 pounds. While he was close to the same weight as Garcia, he looked considerably smaller. Garcia will likely look much bigger than Salka after he rehydrates overnight.

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What is the career path of Danny Garcia?

GarciaSalkaFinalPC_Hoganphotos3(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) By Gav Duthie: After successive 4th round stoppage victories over Mexican legend Erik Morales and Amir Khan it seemed like Danny Garcia was destined for pound for pound stardom. With a lovely left hook, sound boxing ability and a quirky father to add personality he looked a pay-per-view certainty. Now I am asking the question where is Danny Garcia going with his career. Despite still being undefeated he seems to be going backwards. 

Fighting weight?

Pretty much everyone had Mauricio Herrera beating him in his last fight. He certainly dodged a bullet there. His excuse for not giving him a rematch was issues with making weight yet here is fighting average lightweight contender Rod Salka 19-3 (3) defending his two 140lb titles. If Danny had decided to relinquish his titles I can understand him fighting someone at this level if he moved up to 147 but at 140 this is probably the most pointless fight of the year.

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Purses: Danny Garcia $700K, Salka $125K, Peterson $400K, Santana $75K

SHO_Garcia_Salka-0009(Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Allan Fox: WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (28-0, 16 KOs) is going to be getting a decent payday for his non-title fight against lightweight Rod Salka (19-3, 3 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Garcia will be getting $700,000 for the fight, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Salka, a fighter that few fans are familiar with, is getting $125,000.

Garcia could likely make a lot more money if he were to face Lucas Matthysse in a rematch. That’s a fight that would draw a lot of interest in big ratings on Showtime, even though Garcia did beat Matthysse past September. Garcia vs. Viktor Postol would also have been a better fight.

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