Dmitry Salita Aims To Get Henry Lebron To A World Title

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Dmitry Salita is looking to take Henry Lebron from a contender to a titleholder. 

On Saturday night, Salita Promotions and Universal Promotions will put on a show from San Juan, Puerto Rico, headlined by the junior lightweight bout between Lebron and Derlyn Hernandez-Gerardo.

Lebron recently signed with Salita Promotions. Hernandez is trying to make it an encore after knocking out Abisael Cotto, who signed with Salita Promotions earlier this year. Lebron (21-0, 11 KOs) last fought in January, stopping Juan Tapia. His career-best wins are over Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz, William Foster III, and Andy Vences.

“Henry Lebron has been signed to some big promotions; he has fought for Top Rank; he has fought for Matchroom, [and] he is highly ranked,” Salita said. “Henry is a highly ranked, talented fighter. We want to keep him active, get him the right competitive fights, and help him earn a world title opportunity.”

Salita outlined a plan.

“Consistency, staying busy, and storytelling,” Salita said. “There are several incentives that run on parallel paths.”

The goal from the conversation with Salita is simple. He wants to run a lot of shows in Puerto Rico; with LeBron signing, he would be in the mix to be featured on these shows. The aim is to keep the fighters active, move them up in the rankings, and make them accessible as people get to know them, with the eventual goal being big fights and potentially even targeting Madison Square Garden or The Theatre. Salita points to heavyweight Sardius Simmons as a poster child for his philosophy as a promoter, as he has fought roughly 10 times in 14 months. Hernandez (14-5-1, 12 KOs) is from San Juan and is coming off the best moment of his career. The 32-year-old Hernandez is now in a prime position to turn a good win into a great opportunity if he can strike while the iron is hot. 

“It is a great opportunity for [Hernandez], because he is fighting a guy who is highly rated,” Salita said. “He had an incredible explosive knockout in March, and this is our third show on the island – and the plan is to do at least one more before the year is out.”

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WBC junior lightweight Bernice Ferreira will rematch Caroline Veyre. The two fought for Veyre’s title in August, when referee Malik Waleed disqualified Veyre. 

“I believe it will happen early next year,” Salita said. “We really don’t have a date for it yet.”

As for Claressa Shields, the multi-division women’s boxer, we got a hint. 

“Lauren Price and Chantelle Cameron are two major fights Claressa wants, and we’re working to make the biggest fights possible,” Salita said.