BoxRec

Former WBC super featherweight world champion Francisco "Bandido" Vargas will return to the ring on April 12, when he faces veteran Rod Salka at the Fantasy Springs Casino in California.

https://www.BS.com/francisco-v ... gs--126214

Salka (24-4, 4 KOs) shot to the spotlight in 2014, when he practically moved up by two weight classes to fight then unified junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia in what many felt was a severe mismatch.

Garcia brutally knocked him out cold in two quick rounds.

Since then, Salaka has won five fights in a row, but he's not been very active and his weight has bounced around from super featherweight to a few pounds above junior welterweight.

He returned in his next fight at lightweight only three months later, and won a ten round decision over Monty Meza Clay.

What a waste of fuckin time!

Stuarty wrote: ↑15 Mar 2018, 09:02 What a waste of fuckin time!

He was good against Smith, he should start getting back into world title contention.

Not Rod 'Bloody' Salka!

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑15 Mar 2018, 10:13

Stuarty wrote: ↑15 Mar 2018, 09:02 What a waste of fuckin time!

He was good against Smith, he should start getting back into world title contention.

Not Rod 'Bloody' Salka!

Yeah I meant from Vargas perspective. Salka is a fuckin turnip!

Most likely, they're waiting for a shot at Berchelt after he fights Micky Roman. Really, he should instead go for Machado. All the Mexicans should be lining up to fight this guy. It's Mexican/PR angle which sells.

Mexi-Box wrote: ↑15 Mar 2018, 11:41 Most likely, they're waiting for a shot at Berchelt after he fights Micky Roman. Really, he should instead go for Machado. All the Mexicans should be lining up to fight this guy. It's Mexican/PR angle which sells.

A lot of boxers chase the same title they lose.. or the same guy.. they should mix it up. Go for another beltholder.. assuming the man who beat you still has a title, if the time os ryt you can have a bigger fight an unify.

If Danny Garcia can fight Salka as a title defense while he was undefeated, then Francisco Vargas can do it too after brutal loss from Berchelt. Still, sh!tty fight

Garcia fought Salka at 142... three weight divisions above Salka's natural weight

Watch Salka's fights versus undefeated Cuban Alexei Collado, who he absolutely embarrassed on ShoBox, I remember seeing that live... also watch his all-out war with Monty Meza-Clay, which he also won 3 months after the Garcia fight... I also remember watching his clowning of Canelo's brother and being robbed on the Broner - Maidana card, the man boxes well

You'll see that he's a very good fighter... the joke with Garcia wasn't Salka's fault, at the end of the day he received a 6-figure payday, much higher than he's ever gotten or will get again

This is a solid match-up at 130... 130!!! Lol Vargas should win, will be a good fight

stevekrazy wrote: ↑15 Mar 2018, 13:45 Garcia fought Salka at 142... three weight divisions above Salka's natural weight

Watch Salka's fights versus undefeated Cuban Alexei Collado, who he absolutely embarrassed on ShoBox, I remember seeing that live... also watch his all-out war with Monty Meza-Clay, which he also won 3 months after the Garcia fight... I also remember watching his clowning of Canelo's brother and being robbed on the Broner - Maidana card, the man boxes well

You'll see that he's a very good fighter... the joke with Garcia wasn't Salka's fault, at the end of the day he received a 6-figure payday, much higher than he's ever gotten or will get again

This is a solid match-up at 130... 130!!! Lol Vargas should win, will be a good fight

He recieved $125k for that fight. Probably his career best still..

That fight was more of a jab on Garcia's part. Not Salka's faüłt at ałł..

Rod Salka is a fooking savage animal. I can't believe Vargas's handlers matched him against Salka.

ya not a good fight, but as pointed out above remember vargas is at 130 and not 140 like garcia. what was so laughable about that fight was not only difference in levels but the fact they basically went 2 divisions down for it. salkas not nearly as bad lower down as ppl treat him

part of me thinks it was almost a move to show haymons power, that showtime would do any match he wanted and garcia would make big for it

Salka's won 5 in a row since the Garcia blowout. Hasn't lost since 2014.

As mentioned, he's not nearly as bad as he looked in that mismatch with a world ranked junior welterweight.

And the exciting Vargas, who goes to war a little too much for his own good, might be on the downside after those savage battles with Miura, Salido and Berchelt.

So I wouldn't be surprised to see a somewhat competitive fight.

Give Salka another chance.

The fight will be televised by ESPN.

SenorPipino wrote: ↑15 Mar 2018, 19:36
The fight will be televised by ESPN.

That's good. I doubt HBO would have picked it up. With them being so picky these days.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑16 Mar 2018, 02:36

SenorPipino wrote: ↑15 Mar 2018, 19:36
The fight will be televised by ESPN.

That's good. I doubt HBO would have picked it up. With them being so picky these days.

Francisco Vargas Drops, Breaks Down, Stops Rod Salka in Six

Former WBC super featherweight champion Francisco Vargas (25-1-2, 18 KOs), who was working with new head trainer Joel Diaz, broke down and stopped Rod Salka (24-5, 4 KOs) in six rounds.

Vargas started off as expected, by pushing forward with big punches that were flying. Salka was catching him with counters, but his lack of power was not making a dent on the much bigger hitter.

As the fight continued, Vargas continued to apply more pressure in each round and was throwing big punches to the head and body with very bad intentions.

In the fifth round, Vargas and Salka were trading punches at close range when an uppercut landed and forced Salka to go down for a knee. He made it up at the count of eight as the bell sounded to end the round. Salka face was pretty bruised, and his body was red, as they entered the sixth round.

During the sixth, Salka took a lot of punishment and suffered a bad cut around his left eye. The corner of Salka stopped the fight at the end of the round.

Last night (Apr. 12) Salka wore the words ‘American 1st’ with a build that wall pattern on his boxing trunks. Of course Salka was facing a Mexican fighter. Then due to Universal Karma, Francisco Vargas proceeded to beat the brakes off Rob Salka for six rounds.

Lmao enjoy getting plastered by a Mexican my guy pic.twitter.com/uQnETLC0vE

— Phil Lo Grey-co (@BoxrecGrey) April 13, 2018

Rod Salka wore “America 1st” and a wall pattern on his trunks against Mexican fighter Francisco Vargas, and ended up getting his ass kicked #boxing pic.twitter.com/CmNfIeU6X1

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) April 13, 2018

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2018, 13:02

Last night (Apr. 12) Salka wore the words ‘American 1st’ with a build that wall pattern on his boxing trunks. Of course Salka was facing a Mexican fighter. Then due to Universal Karma, Francisco Vargas proceeded to beat the brakes off Rob Salka for six rounds.

Universal Karma? Hardly...

It's called Oscar's Golden Boy Promotions (who promoted the Vargas-Salka card) making ANOTHER political statement, just like he did with that TV commercial about the Border Wall hyping the Canelo-Chavez Jr fight last Cinco de Mayo. I'm sure Salka's nice little BONU$ from GBP for wearing those goofy trunks cost Oscar WAY LESS than this famous TV commercial about the wall.

For those who might have missed the Border Wall commercial, here it is, along with Oscar's commentary:

Best Coast wrote: ↑14 Apr 2018, 21:31

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2018, 13:02

Last night (Apr. 12) Salka wore the words ‘American 1st’ with a build that wall pattern on his boxing trunks. Of course Salka was facing a Mexican fighter. Then due to Universal Karma, Francisco Vargas proceeded to beat the brakes off Rob Salka for six rounds.

Universal Karma? Hardly...

It's called Oscar's Golden Boy Promotions (who promoted the Vargas-Salka card) making ANOTHER political statement, just like he did with that TV commercial about the Border Wall hyping the Canelo-Chavez Jr fight last Cinco de Mayo. I'm sure Salka's nice little BONU$ from GBP for wearing those goofy trunks cost Oscar WAY LESS than this famous TV commercial about the wall.

For those who might have missed the Border Wall commercial, here it is, along with Oscar's commentary:

I'm not sure that I quite get you.

Oscar is a pro illegal immigration type of guy. He wants open borders.

Why would he want Salka to wear the America 1st and border wall trunks, which is a pro-Trump anti-illegal immigration message?

Obviously that's not the side of the fence Oscar is in politically.

I could see Oscar asking Salka to wear that type of apparel before the fight as a way to hype and promote the matchup.

Inflammatory but effective.

But what good does it do for Salka to wait until he enters the ring to flaunt it? The promotion is over by then.

Unless you're saying that Oscar was trying to demonstrate some sort of Mexican superiority over the US, and felt that the trunks would drive home that message.

All this proved was that Vargas is a better fighter than Salka. But most realized that with or without the trunks.

SenorPipino wrote: ↑16 Apr 2018, 09:16

Best Coast wrote: ↑14 Apr 2018, 21:31

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2018, 13:02

Last night (Apr. 12) Salka wore the words ‘American 1st’ with a build that wall pattern on his boxing trunks. Of course Salka was facing a Mexican fighter. Then due to Universal Karma, Francisco Vargas proceeded to beat the brakes off Rob Salka for six rounds.

Universal Karma? Hardly...

It's called Oscar's Golden Boy Promotions (who promoted the Vargas-Salka card) making ANOTHER political statement, just like he did with that TV commercial about the Border Wall hyping the Canelo-Chavez Jr fight last Cinco de Mayo. I'm sure Salka's nice little BONU$ from GBP for wearing those goofy trunks cost Oscar WAY LESS than this famous TV commercial about the wall.

For those who might have missed the Border Wall commercial, here it is, along with Oscar's commentary:

I'm not sure that I quite get you.

Oscar is a pro illegal immigration type of guy. He wants open borders.

Why would he want Salka to wear the America 1st and border wall trunks, which is a pro-Trump anti-illegal immigration message?

Obviously that's not the side of the fence Oscar is in politically.

I could see Oscar asking Salka to wear that type of apparel before the fight as a way to hype and promote the matchup.

Inflammatory but effective.

But what good does it do for Salka to wait until he enters the ring to flaunt it? The promotion is over by then.

Unless you're saying that Oscar was trying to demonstrate some sort of Mexican superiority over the US, and felt that the trunks would drive home that message.

All this proved was that Vargas is a better fighter than Salka. But most realized that with or without the trunks.

Fair enough question amigo, especially coming from one of the more savvy commenters in this forum.

Obviously it was NOT to promote the fight, but rather a low-cost, high-impact political slap in the face to Trump that has gone VIRAL enough to be picked up by virtually every mainstream media outlet in the US: Yahoo, Fox News, CNN, USA Today, ABC, TMZ, Business Insider, Newsweek, Esquire, Maxim, etc. Googling the phrase "BOXING TRUNKS MEXICAN BORDER WALL" yields 7.2 million results without even mentioning Trump or either of the fighters' names.

Oscar spent hundreds of thousands (if not millions) on his politically-driven TV commercial for Canelo-Chavez Jr last May (which showed both Canelo and JC Jr busting through said wall) but he actually got much more mileage from this one without spending an extra penny (except maybe a $500 bonus for Salka wearing those goofy trunks). For those who havent seen the original "Border Wall TV Commercial" it's must-see for understanding what's going on here (linked above).

This is more than just politics for Oscar...it's a personal obsession he has with Trump (who he deeply despises). Here's a video of Oscar being interviewed on Fox Business Channel during the lead-up to Canelo-Khan (while Trump was still a candidate) and Oscar specifically says he matched Canelo with a Muslim like Amir Khan because those are the two immigrant groups Trump most often opposes!!



Now THAT is political.

Oscar has far more political savvy than someone like Don King (who actually campaigned for Trump in the traditional old-school method by going to his rallies, etc). Oscar is a lot more subtle, like having his #1 prospect Ryan Garcia put on a t-shirt promoting the nationwide gun control march aimed at high school kids (following the Florida HS shooting) right after Ryan blew out Fernando Vargas on his ESPN main event just a few weeks before this one.

Whether the issue is illegal immigration or gun control we can count on Oscar/GBP injecting his politics into his boxing TV shows in ways not seen since Muhammad Ali (only a lot more subtle).

Yes, Oscar has made quite a few smart ass anti-Trump comments during the past few years.

A couple months ago he "dared" Trump to attend the then scheduled Golovkin-Canelo Cinco de Mayo fight, just to prove that Trump doesn't hate Mexicans.

I'm not sure how coming to the fight would prove anything. Trump would undoubtedly have enjoyed it since he's a big fight fan.

De La Hoya also added that he would hand Trump a pair of binoculars and seat him in the cheap seats with all the Mexicans.

I'm not sure it's wise to consistently publicly ridicule and taunt the POTUS. Unpleasant things can happen to you.

But Oscar is no brain surgeon (ask Arum) and usually yaps before he thinks.

De La Hoya said he would share a cerveza with Trump if the prez attended the fight.

I guess he's unaware that Trump doesn't drink.

BTW, Salka is a political guy. Two years ago he ran as a Republican for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Represntatives.

He was trounced 2-1 by the Democratic incumbent.

Salka just can't win.

im shocked salka even managed to get nominated to even run for something like that

Gilgamesh summed up Salka's fistic career accurately in a similar thread in the "Off Topic" Forum:

It's kinda funny that his nickname is "Lightning" Rod Salka

A Lightning Rod's purpose is to get hit.

Here's my favorite Rod Salka action shot:

I wont be surprised if Oscar uses him again to play the patsy in some future GBP fight card.

jamamb wrote: ↑16 Apr 2018, 22:47 im shocked salka even managed to get nominated to even run for something like that

Truth be told, he ran unopposed in the primary.