Kotelnik-Salita waiting for doctor approval

by Scott Christ on Sep 28, 2008 7:45 PM EDT

Though it was thought that WBA junior welterweight titlist Andreas Kotelnik (30-2-1, 13 KO) was pulling out of his November 8 defense against Dmitriy Salita (28-0-1, 16 KO) on the undercard of Calzaghe-Jones, Kotelnik tells BoxingScene.com that Square Ring "jumped the gun."

Kotelnik says he's waiting for doctor approval, and that he's not decided whether or not to take the fight with Salita. He suffered a rib injury in his September 13 defense against Norio Kimura.

If Kotelnik can't defend, former British Empire lightweight champion Willie Limond (29-2, 8 KO) will step in to fight Salita, which is about as unexciting a step down in competition as you can get. Limond has never seriously competed over 135 pounds, has no punching power (he did floor Amir Khan), and has no name in America, which will simply lead to a crowd wondering who the hell he is. Kotelink has no name value here, either, but at least he brings a title to the table.

Salita is a fairly interesting fighter, but I don't get featuring him on a pay-per-view undercard. While Calzaghe and Jones are proud of putting this fight on "by themselves," the fact of the matter is they have no ability to put together an attractive undercard at all. This card is on November 8, and the only thing confirmed is that Salita will fight either Kotelnik or Limond.

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the only angle i can see for a Salita undercard feature is that he’s a powerful draw in NYC. i would’ve thought RJJ/Joe wouldn’t need whatever boost Salita might bring to fill MSG, but maybe i’m wrong.

by boxingstudent on Sep 28, 2008 9:07 PM EDT reply actions

it will need some help

Tickets are apparently not moving well. Salita’s a powerful draw in the smaller venues but he’s not going to fill MSG. Roy-Tito did well because of the Puerto Rican contingent coming out for Trinidad’s return.

I won’t be surprised if this show does awful numbers for attendance and PPV returns.

"Yesterday I was lying, today I am telling the truth." -- Bob Arum

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Bad Left Hook

by Scott Christ on Sep 28, 2008 11:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Roy

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Sep 29, 2008 12:12 AM EDT up reply actions

Oops

Roy’s lost a lot of his drawing power in NYC. Even for Jones-Trinidad, DK had to give away a bunch of free tickets to save face because he couldn’t sell out the place. Salita has a pretty strong following among the Brooklyn orthodox Jew community, and a lot of those folks actually have the money to afford the tickets. I usually try to hit up shows at MSG, but even I’m taking a pass on this one. I think the main event will be a blowout, and there isn’t anything interesting on the undercard, not to mention that the ticket prices are insane.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Sep 29, 2008 12:15 AM EDT up reply actions

I think that Dmitriy Salita sucks. He should never be on a PPV. He is a showbox fighter at best. The PPV is going to be shitty and even with all 3 shows of 24/7 hype I expect it to do lower numbers than the Tito/Jones fight. Who are they trying to fool here? It is a crappy PPV from top to bottom.

by Zocalo on Sep 28, 2008 10:39 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed

He’s not even the best Soviet bloc orthodox Jewish fighter living in Brooklyn. That honor goes to Yuri Foreman, who isn’t exactly a worldbeater either.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Sep 29, 2008 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions