By Edward Chaykovsky

"Lightning" Rod Salka (19-3, 3KOs) views his fight with Danny Garcia as the gateway to much bigger things. Their fight is taking place tonight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Garcia's WBC/WBA 140-pound titles are not at stake. The fight will be a ten round contest fought at a catch-weight of 142-pounds.

Salka, moving up from the lightweight ranks, is a big underdog. He expects Garcia, who had a lackluster performance in his last bout with Mauricio Herrera, to come in there prepared to make a big statement.

"It's going to be a tough fight, he's heavily favored so I know I have to win the fight clearly. Danny is a good boxer and he has the full package. We've prepared well and we think we're ready for him. Every boxer has weaknesses. I've done everything in my preparation to work on those things. I expect him to come out hard, but who knows? No one knows what is going to happen but I know I'm ready," Salka said.

"I'm hoping this will be the start of big things. This has been a dream of mine since I started fighting at the age of 10. This is what it all comes down to."