Popo Salinas is his own harshest critic.  Following Salinas’ victory over Canada’s Namah Daghir, Salinas claimed that he needs to work harder and that if he were to have a realistic shot at making the US Olympic Team, he would need to devote more time in the gym and turn it up.  Salinas looked pretty good in front of a very partial crowd at St. Lucy’s in Campbell.  The Youngstown amateur threw some big blows against a very worthy opponent in Daghir in picking up the decision in the main event of an Ohio vs Canada card.

Salinas was bleeding from the nose in the third round and the ref stopped the fight to have the ringside doctor look at it.  Once he determined Salinas could fight on with about thirty seconds remaining in the fight, the decision was secured.  The standing room only crowd of the Lights Out / Jack Loew co-promotion erupted when the decision was read.

“I was bleeding from the nose”, said Salinas.  “He was a very tough opponent and God bless him.  Now, I will have to start facing older competition in the open division.  In the trials, I would like to finish second or third to qualify and then I will come back home and keep training.  I feel pretty good, but when I get back in the gym, I know I will have to work harder.”

In the first round, Salinas landed several big shots but Daghir never went down.  In my estimation, Salinas did plenty to win the round.  The second round was a little harder to score.  Daghir landed more punches through two thirds of the round, but Salinas seemed to land the harder shots.  I scored the round even as Salinas landed his best punch of the round right before the bell.

In the third and final round, Salinas hit Daghir three times solid.   Despite catching the trio of solid shots, Daghir kept firing back.  The ref stopped the fight to check a cut on the face of Salinas, once he determined the fight could continue, the final bell sounded.

When the decision was announced, Salinas got his hand raised in victory and it was announced to the crowd that he would now travel and try his hand at the Olympic Trials.

The first five matches of the night were not ‘Ohio vs Canada’, but rather fillers to lead up to the international portion of the card.

In the opening bout,  Shianne Gist won a three-round decision over Christy Lacy.  The next bout, Lavelle Hadley (Southside Boxing Club) hurt Joaquin Labron in the first and second rounds and coasted to a convincing decision.  Fight number three saw Dorian Wilder of Cleveland outpoint Youngstown’s John Gregory.  Wilder used a strong third round to get the decision.

The next fight featured a couple of locals.  Rashon Cook represented the Southside Boxing Club, and his opponent, Rocky Lucre, represented the Downtown AC.  Cook recorded two standing eight counts in the first round and coasted the ret of the way as the fight was stopped late in the third round.  Good start by Cook, but he was gassed pretty good at the end of three two-minute rounds.

The last fight before the intermission saw Vic Toney of Youngstown’s Southside Boxing Club defeat Doyle Freeman of Columbus.  Toney hurt Freeman with a body shot in the second round.  When the action resumed, Toney landed a few more shots before his corner threw in the towel.

The Team Canada vs Team Ohio portion of the card was next.  Canada got the first win as Lucas Rowe defeated Lucian Clinkscale, representing the Downtown AC.  Rowe hurt Clinkscale in the third and forced a standing eight count to secure the victory.

The next bout saw Canada’s Shawn “The Flurry” Murrey take on Josh Fisher of Columbus.  The Flurry offered a little more than Fisher could handle and Murrey, representing Canada, emerged victorious putting the Canucks up 2-0, via decision.

The third contest pitted Jack Loew’s Southside understudy, Cody Lucky, facing Canada’s David Murray.  The Canadian fighter definitely dictated the pace of the fight and Lucky caught too many shots relying almost solely on counterpunches.  Canada was undefeated through three fights.

The next international contest saw Chris Minor of Cleveland take on Canada’s Roman Sziek.  Minor used an arsenal of shots in the second round that first, forced a standing eight count, and seconds later,  had another knockdown and was woozy enough for the ref to halt the bout in the second.  Minor was the first American to win against a Canadian on the card.

The next to last bout pitted Danny Rozenburg, fighting out of Keith Burnside’s stable against Canada’s Alan Yescas.  The bout was a little stale and featured too much clenching and not enough action over its three round span.  When the judges turned their cards in, Rozenburg was awarded the win via decision.