Salka has hands full with fight
Rod Salka has a lot of irons in the fire now.
The 33-year-old operates The Fight Company, a 6,000-square-foot facility in West Mifflin that bills itself as the largest boxing gym in Western Pennsylvania. He’s a regional sales manager for SolarCity, which installs solar panels for homes.
The 10-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and National Guard also is running as a Republican for state representative in the 38th District.
On Saturday, he’ll be at the top of a boxing card at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, where he will put his 22-4 professional record on the line against Wilberth Lopez (15-5) in an eight-round, light welterweight (140-pound) bout.
“I really just like to fight,” said Salka, who will be making his second appearance at The Meadows after knocking out Noel Echevarria in May.
“But it’s nice to fight at a casino like The Meadows. It’s always more like a high-end event when you’re fighting at a casino. And it’s a place I go to on my own, anyway.”
Salka, whose nickname is “Lightning Rod,” started fighting while training at a gym with a friend in McKeesport. The Elizabeth Forward graduate and native of Bunola – a tiny town just across the Monagahela River from Finleyville – began his professional career in 2007, winning his first 11 fights. The last few years saw him going up against some of the best in the world, including unbeaten WBA World Super Lightweight champion Danny Garcia in 2014.
But the fights have been fewer and farther between for Salka since that time. Saturday will mark just his fourth fight since the loss to Garcia.
“I’ve offered to take on some of the top guys for 1/10th of what I should be getting for a fight like that,” said Salka, who is currently ranked 10th in the United States and 57th in the world at 130 pounds by boxrec.com. “Everybody knows I can fight. But there are a lot of politics involved in boxing. It’s tough to get those fights.”
Enter Lopez, who won his past 10 fights, all in Mexico.
A native of Tucson, Ariz., Lopez has a distinctly different style than Salka. While Lopez won nine of his past 10 fights by knockout or TKO, Salka is more of a technician. Though his fight against Echevarria at The Meadows ended by knockout, he has won 18 decisions in his career.
It’s doubtful Lopez, who faced just four fighters with winning records in his last 10 bouts, has faced anyone as technically sound as Salka.
“He hasn’t,” Salka admitted. “But he’s done what he’s supposed to do the past couple of years. He’s not struggling with those guys. He’s taking care of business. Plus, he’s 5-11 and left-handed, which will present some challenges.”
Not that Salka isn’t up to a challenge, as his busy schedule might suggest.
“I still love boxing but it clearly isn’t my priority right now,” he said. “I also have other interests. I’m not going to sit around and hope for a big fight. That doesn’t mean I’m taking this fight any less seriously. At the same time, if a fight came along that was big enough I needed to put aside six weeks for training, I could do that.”
The Salka-Lopez fight will be one of nine scheduled on the World Fighting Championships 57 card. Tickets can be purchased at www.meadowsgaming.com, www.worldfightingchampionships.com or the casino gift shop.