43
Patience pays off for Salinas
Southside Boxing Club fighter finally
ready to make professional debut
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
For Alejandro “Popo” Salinas, the hardest thing to learn in his boxing career wasn’t a jab or a cross.
It was patience.
After a terrific amateur career, the 19-year-old Southside Boxing Club fighter will make his pro debut as part of “The Beginning,” a nine-bout card on Nov. 29 at St. Lucy’s banquet center in Campbell.
“I’ve been waiting to [turn professional] since I was 17, but I wasn’t old enough and I wasn’t mentally stable enough,” said Salinas, who trains with Kelly Pavlik’s former trainer, Jack Loew. “As soon as I hit 18, I was like, ‘Jack, I’m ready for this.’
“He told me, ‘Sacrifice one more year and I promise everything will go well.’ I was trying to rush it and he was right. Patience is key for everything.”
Salinas is one of seven fighters who will make their professional debuts later this month, including four from the Southside Boxing Club: middleweight Victor Toney of Youngstown, a former football standout at Chaney High; heavyweight Wesley Triplett of Youngstown; welterweight Lavelle Hadley, a Chicago native who has spent more than a decade in Youngstown and welterweight John Gregory of Youngstown.
Heavyweight Tony Mercado, a Puerto Rican native who trains at the Burnside Boxing Club in Struthers, and Cyrano Clay of the Buckeye Elks Boxing Club will also fight for the first time as professionals, while SSBC professionals Vinny O’Neil of Girard and Brett Simmons (Cleveland native/Youngstown resident) will also fight.
“We called it ‘The Beginning’ because ... it’s the beginning for a lot of these young guys making that next step to the pro level from the amateurs,” Loew said. “I’ve been doing this a long time and it’s a huge step. Some of these guys are gonna succeed and some are gonna fail, and I hope they all succeed.
“You’re going to see these kids go through a whole bunch of stages in that locker room. They’re gonna put those little eight-ounce gloves and they look at it and they get all excited like, ‘Man, I can’t wait to [hit someone].’ And then the thought goes through their mind, ‘I’m going to get hit with the same thing.’”
That’s the biggest test for Salinas, who started training with Loew as an 8-year-old in 2003. Salinas has competed in the USA Nationals and in the National Golden Gloves, but Loew felt the Youngstown native was better suited for pro boxing, where he could use his power to his advantage.
“Jack has told me I have the whole package, but I have to make sure I have the jaw,” said Salinas, whose older brother, Juan, was knocked out in his pro debut in 2011. “I know I have the jaw. I’ve just got to test it out.”
Salinas will begin his career as a 130-pound super featherweight but hopes to work his way up to 145 pounds, winning championships along the way like Manny Pacquiao. Salinas will meet Chris Tanner (0-1) of Indianapolis on Nov. 29.
“The moment has come,” he said. “It’s time to show people what I can do.”
Loew said he’s sold 250 of the 280 ringside seats and nearly half of the 700 general admission tickets. That interest could lead to three more local shows in 2015, possibly on ESPN2 or on one of the Hispanic channels.
“This is the beginning,” Loew said. “It’s an exciting card and I just hope everyone enjoys it.”