Heeb

Dmitriy Salita, the number one ranked Junior Welterweight boxer in the world, is the WBA mandatory challenger to champ Amir Khan. He’s finally going to getting his chance at the belt this Saturday in Newcastle, England. I met with Salita at Kid Kelly’s Boxing Gym in Brooklyn after a day of training. In his Russian-meets-Brooklyn accent, he answered questions about his childhood dream, his training schedule and the Orthodox Jew/devout Muslim fight that’s making international headlines.

I was boxing for a short time last year. My coach always said, ‘You have to be crazy to be a pro boxer.’ So are you crazy?

I’m a little bit crazy. My first pro fight, when they took off my shirt and they took off my headgear, I was in the locker room looking at myself and was like, ‘You’re really doing this.‘  I fought a guy with a Mohawk . . . and scored a first-round knockout.

Where do you live?

Brooklyn. In Flatbush.

How old are you?

27 years old.

How tall are you?

5’ 9".

How much do you weigh?

I fight at 140 lbs.

What weight class is that?

Junior welterweight.

What is your professional record?

I’m 30 and 0.

What is your world ranking?

I am ranked number 1 in the world right now. I am the mandatory challenger to fight Amir Khan.  

Amir Khan and Dmitriy Salita

Who is Amir Khan?

He’s an Olympic silver medalist. He’s from England. He’s of Pakistani decent. And he is the champion right now.

So the champ isn’t ranked?

No. The champion is above the rankings. The challengers are ranked.

This summer, USA Boxing News quoted you as saying, ‘Amir Khan has a belt that belongs to me.’ What is the drama surrounding the Khan fight?

I’m the official contender since February [2009]. I was supposed to fight Andreas Kotelnik, but the WBA granted an exception to Amir Khan ‘cause he’s so popular right now.  

Khan’s had a good career?

He’s had a good career. He got knocked out one time by a nobody, but he’s had a good career. Promotionally, he’s had a good career. Just to give you a little history, Gavin Rees won the title about two and a half years ago, I think. One of the reasons a [Rees] fight did not happen is because Andreas Kotelnik was the mandatory challenger like I am now, and he didn’t let me go. He didn’t let me step in and fight Rees. So Rees fought Kotelnik, and Kotelnik won. I was then supposed to fight Andre Kotelnik November 8th on a Roy Jones/Calzaghe bill, but Kotelnik pulled out with a rib injury and then ended up fighting Khan. So that’s why I say he has my belt. This is my childhood dream. This is something I’ve worked very hard for.  

What’s your daily schedule right now?

Well, right now, I try to train every day. I knew the title fight was around the corner, so I was working on things every day – I do my strength and conditioning. I always stay in the gym, maintain a certain amount of conditioning, but obviously when you prepare for a fight, you pick up the training. Mentally, your mind just kind of starts to change. I like to get ready for a fight about 8 weeks out; sometimes it’s 6 weeks.

Let’s talk about the fact that you’re Jewish and Khan is Muslim. I don’t know what that means to you guys personally, but what does it mean to the audience?   

Khan’s a good guy. He does a lot of good things. But he has my belt. Hopefully, good will come out of it. It’ll generate a lot of interest. This fight with Amir and I, it will come out internationally, in newspapers in the Middle East it would otherwise never end up in.

Reading about you, it’s always about the Jewish kid that boxes, but let’s drop the Jewish thing now and talk about you as a boxer. What are you good at? What do you need to get better at still?

I’m good at a lot of things. As an amateur, people thought I was Spanish. I grew up in gyms like this. I grew up at Starrett City Boxing Club, mostly around black people, so my education of America culturally was black. I won three Junior Olympics in New York from thirteen to sixteen. I won the nationals. When I was eighteen, I won the Golden Gloves and got the Sugar Robinson Award — it’s like the MVP, the outstanding boxer of the tournament. I beat champions black, white, purple and green. My strength is that I learned the art of boxing. Brain beats brawn always, and that’s a strength of mine.  

Last question. Do you have anything to say to Amir Khan?

Shine my belt when I get it from you.

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