Tarick Salmaci

Tarick Salmaci (born February 28, 1972) is a boxer of Lebanese and Persian descent. He was inducted into the Arab-American national museum in 2005.

Raised in Detroit, Salmaci began his boxing career at the age of 8. He had an amateur career with a record of 136-12, and was an Olympic Trials finalist.[1] Salmaci learned to fight at the Kronk gym in Detroit, where he engaged in many fights as an amateur. Salmaci sparred with the likes of hall of famer Thomas "The Hit Man" Hearns, world champion Gerald McClennan, world champion James Toney, world rated Oba Carr, Olympic gold medalist Mark Breland and others while still under amateur status.

He is a six-time State champion, four-time Midwest champion, and three-time US champion. Kronk boss Emanuel Steward was quoted as saying, "Tarick Salmaci is one of the best amateur fighters ever to come out of the Kronk gym in Detroit."

Salmaci went on to turn professional after the Olympic Trials. He was managed by Jackie Kallen at the beginning of his pro career. Afterwards, he was managed and trained by Emanuel Steward in the later part of his career, during which he compiled a professional record of 20-3 and was rated as high as 4th in the world by the WBO and 6th in the world by the WBC.

Salmaci signed to fight Joe Calzaghe for the WBO Super Middleweight championship, but the fight did not take place due to an injury sustained by Calzaghe during training.

In the first season of NBC's reality show "The Contender", Salmaci was one of 16 fighters chosen worldwide to participate on the show,[2] which is produced by Mark Burnett, DreamWorks Entertainment, Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard. "The Contender" was the highest budgeted reality show in history at the time it aired on NBC. Filmed in the Los Angeles area, this family-driven reality drama attracted dedicated viewers among boxing fans and non-boxing fans alike. The first season created such a worldwide buzz that the show ran for four more seasons. Salmaci was voted back as a "fan favorite" to fight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Tarick will be starring in upcoming sci fi movie, Moontrap: Target Earth. Release date is 2015.

He will also be featured on E Network's critically acclaimed docu series Botched- Season 2, where his boxing career will be profiled as he gets ready to go under the knife for reconstructive surgery. Botched is set to premiere in spring of 2015.

References

  1. ↑ "Interview with Tarick Salmaci". BoxingScene.com. November 12, 2005. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  2. ↑ Hauser, Thomas (2006). I Don't Believe It, But It's True: A Year in Boxing. Sportclassic Books. p. 250. ISBN 9781894963503.

External links