Salita, Collazzo Fight On April 13 In NY

“EXODUS”
April 13, 2011 Oceana Club, Brooklyn, New York
Main Event: Dmitriy Salita 32-1 (17) vs. Ronnie Warrior Jr. (13-4 (4)
Co-Feature: Luis Collazo 30-4 (15) vs. Franklin Gonzalez 13-8 (9)

Former WBA world title challenger Dmitriy Salita of Brooklyn, New York looks to further rebound from an unsuccessful challenge of WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan with a ten round main event bout against Ronnie Warrior Jr. at Brooklyn's Oceana Club on April 13th.

The bout against Warrior Jr. (13-4 with 4 knockouts) will be the third fight back for Salita (32-1 with 17 KO's). In September of 2010 Salita scored a unanimous decision over Franklin Gonzalez at the Oceana Club and in December he scored an impressive third round technical knockout over James Wayka at the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan. Both bouts were contested in the much more comfortable 147 pound welterweight division where Salita will now campaign.

The scheduled ten round bout against Warrior represents a step up in class from his previous two opponents as the Sheepshead Bay boxer climbs towards another world title shot. Three of Warrior's four defeats have come against unbeaten boxers including a decision loss to future world rated welterweight Harry Joe Yorgey in 2006.

While Salita trains under longtime coach Nirmal Lorick at the Universal Boxing Gym in Queens, he has also spent time at the world famous Kronk Gym in Detroit preparing for this fight under the watchful eyes of the legendary Emmanuel Steward and up and coming trainer Jevan “Sugar” Hill.

Hill will assist Lorick in the corner on April 13.

The co-feature on the 13th features former WBA world welterweight champion Luis Collazo. Collazo, 30, and Salita, 28, are longtime friends who both began boxing as amateurs and professionals out of Jimmy O' Pharrow's famous Starret City Boxing Club in Brooklyn before moving to their current location at Universal. Nirmal Lorick also trains and manages Collazo.

In April of 2005 in a match that many called “The Fight Of The Year”, the slick boxing southpaw scored a thrilling 12 round split decision over hometown favorite and defending champion and hometown hero Jose Antonio Rivera to win the WBA welterweight championship. Collazo defended the title once before relinquishing it to England's Ricky Hatton in May of 2006.

Collazo is current in the midst of a comeback of his own after losing to Andre Berto on January 17, 2009 in what many consider a highly controversial 12 round decision that was seen world wide on HBO's Boxing After Dark series.

Collazo's ten rounder with Franklin Gonzalez (13-8 with 9 knockouts) on April 13 represents his second match back after the loss to Berto. In June of 2009 the Brooklyn boxer scored a sixth round technical knockout over David Gogichaishvili at the Radisson Hotel in Columbia, South Carolina.

Team Collazo is planning to come back one bout at a time on their way back up the welterweight ladder but they have made it clear they would be more than willing to immediately accept any opportunities for another major fight.

Showtimes's Steve Farhood and former IBF world title challenger “Iceman” John Scully will handle the ringside commentary for New York's “The Jewish Channel” (TJC)

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