Rod Salka

By Dan Ambrose: Unranked lightweight Rod Salka (19-3, 3 KOs) says he plans on roughing up WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (28-0, 16 KOs) and taking the fight to him next month in their fight at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Salka, 5’7”, sees vulnerability in Garcia when he watches his previous fights, especially his recent fight against Mauricio Herrera. Salka wasn’t impressed with what he saw from Garcia in that fight and he feels that he’s someone that he can pull an upset against him.

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By Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (28-0, 16 KOs) won’t have to worry about making weight for his fight against little known lightweight Rod Salka (19-3, 3 KO’s) because their August 9th fight will now have a catch-weight 142 pound catch-weight for this Showtime televised fight.

Garcia’s management decided on picking out the non-top 15 ranked Salka for Garcia to defend his titles against instead of a top tier contender for some reason. But due to the huge firestorm of criticism that came from that, the WBA and WBC chose to make this a non-title fight.

The word is that with the titles not being on the line, Garcia opted to make the fight at 142 instead of at the normal weight of 140 for the division. That makes things even tougher for Salka, who was found in the lightweight division for Garcia to fight instead of at 140. It’s not a problem for Salka to move up in weight, but given that he’s a lightweight with a small frame, he’s probably not going to do well at all in this fight, especially if Garcia rehydrates into the 150-160 region.

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(Picture credit: Hogan Photos) By Dan Ambrose: ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas went into a long and angry rant last Wednesday night about the August 9th Golden Boy Promotions fight between WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (28-0, 16 KO’s) and unranked lightweight Rod Salka (19-3, 3 KO’s) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Like a lot of boxing fans, Atlas isn’t happy about the match-up, because the two-title holder Garcia isn’t fighting a top 15 contender. He’s not even fighting a light welterweight in this case, as Salka is a light hitting lightweight who is moving up in weight for this fight but without a top 15 ranking. Atlas thinks that one of the sanctioning bodies, either the WBA or WBC, will soon have Salka ranked in the top 15 at 140 shortly before the fight takes place in order to give the fight some legitimacy.

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