Salita Doesn't Want to Retire, Hopes to Face Bracero

Last month, Dmitriy Salita was quoted in Haaertz as saying, "Physically, I feel great, but the business and inconsistency of the sport has me seriously thinking about doing something else." The former world title challenger recently clarified his comments, telling The Jewish Boxing Blog, "I do not want to retire from the ring. However, I have a family and that is my first focus. Boxing is my job!"

Salita has made a yeoman's effort to step up the competition in recent years, but it's been all for naught. Former world champion Mike Anchondo backed out of a fight with Salita twice, once in December of 2010 and again the following spring. Salita signed a contract to face Ismael El-Massoudi sometime late in 2011 or early in 2012, but El Massoudi pulled out. Next, Salita called out beltholder Paulie Malignaggi. Malignaggi said he'd love to fight Dmitiry, but then went in another direction.

Most recently, Salita was scheduled to take on Hector Camacho Jr. The fight was initially postponed due to an injury incurred by one of the main event fighters and then was bizarrely cancelled. Salita explained that, after the fight was inexplicably shelved by Golden Boy Promotions, "Post-cancellation we tried to do the Camacho fight ourselves, but he did not want to take it."

Salita added, "We sold loads of tickets for the Camacho fight that we had to return post-cancellation. I did get a lot of frustrated long time fans that did not understand why my fight got cancelled. I hope that it does not damage my relationship with my fans and supporters."

Dmitriy has now turned his sights to another Brooklynite, Gabriel Bracero (22-1, 4 KOs). Salita hopes the fight will be televised by Showtime and will take place on June 22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. For his part, Bracero announced on Twitter, "I love the idea."

Salita concluded, "At this level of my career, I need the network and promoter to want to make these step up fights... My friends in the boxing world tell me that logically it does not make sense that I do not get good opportunities, especially in New York City, the world's biggest Jewish metropolis. My record and fan support should make things easy, but they are very hard. I honestly feel that I have been getting second class treatment. It's very frustrating as you can imagine."

Salita vs. Bracero would be an interesting fight with a lot of local appeal, although it might be relegated to Showtime Extreme, unfortunately. The winner should vault himself into contention to fight another name opponent at welterweight, possibly on the main Showtime channel. Hopefully, the fight gets made; both men deserve it.