A Loser at Political Battles, Salud Wins in the Ring : Boxing: San Diego-based 122-pounder tonight goes for his sixth consecutive victory since WBA stripped him of junior featherweight title 15 months ago.

Jesus Salud finds it difficult to hide his frustration these days.

It’s there every time he steps into the ring against an unranked fighter. It follows him to the bank when he cashes a paycheck he knows should be much larger. Then, suddenly it turns into a straight right hand to the jaw when he thinks of all the time he is wasting.

Salud, 28, was stripped of his junior featherweight title by the World Boxing Assn. in April 1990. The WBA took Salud’s belt away for failing to defend it in Colombia against the No. 1 contender, Luis Mendoza.

Since then, Salud has won five consecutive fights, four by knockout. But the victories have done nothing for his ranking or his wallet.

Tonight’s bout at the Del Mar Fairgrounds will be no different. Salud, 38-4 with 20 knockouts, will face unranked Vincente Gonzales (15-9 with six knockouts) of Los Angeles.

Salud, who is from Honolulu but resides in Spring Valley, realizes tonight’s fight is a risky undertaking.

“Every fight is a tough fight,” he said. “It takes one guy to take away everything I’ve worked for.”

But lately Salud is starting to wonder for what he actually worked.

Although he still is ranked second by the World Boxing Council, he is unranked by the WBA and ranked ninth by the International Boxing Federation.

Neither Salud nor his trainer, Rich Wambold, can figure out how a guy who keeps winning in the ring continues to lose out of it.

Salud has won 14 of his last 15 fights, his only loss coming to Jesse Benavides in a close 10-round decision in March 1990.

One of those victories was a ninth-round disqualification over Juan Jose Estrada in December 1989 at the Forum. Estrada was disqualified for landing too many low blows.

The victory gave Salud the WBA title and what he figured would be the beginning of long reign as champion. Little did he know he would lose his title on the table five months later.

When Salud was approached by WBA officials to take the Mendoza fight, he immediately was advised by U.S. State Department that the political climate in Colombia was too volatile.

“They were killing policeman and innocent people,” Salud said. “It was not safe.”

But the WBA disagreed and gave the title to Mendoza.

“I was in the middle of politics,” Salud said. “I lost a title I worked so hard to get--just like that. They may as well have cut off my right arm.

“It hurts even worse to guy like me who came from the bottom up. I didn’t fight in the Olympics and get a big contract before I turned pro. I was getting $200 a fight when I started.”

Salud started fighting professionally at 20 after a distinguished amateur career in Hawaii. In three years, he was 82-7 and won Hawaiian Golden Glove championships in 1981 and 1982.

But he turned professional in 1983 because making the U.S. Olympic team didn’t seem like a reachable goal.

“I saw a lot of guys getting ripped off in the amateurs,” Salud said. “That’s why I turned pro.”

The irony is not lost on Salud.

“There’s politics everywhere,” he said.

Politics have cost Salud quite a bit of money over the past year. Instead of making a minimum $100,000 for a title defense, he has been fighting for between $5,000 and $20,000 recently--he will earn $5,000 tonight.

“Here’s a kid who’s toughed it out his whole life,” said Bob DePhilippis, Salud’s manager and promoter. “But because of politics, he’s being deprived of money and prestige.”

DePhilippis alleged the WBA never wanted Salud to become champion.

“They wanted a Colombian or South American to have the belt,” he said, “because that’s where the power is in the WBA.”

But Elias Cordova, president of the WBA’s championship committee, defended his decision to strip Salud of his title. Cordova said Mendoza’s manager outbid DePhilippis for the rights to the title bout.

“He did not honor the rules and regulations of the WBA,” Cordova said from Panama City.

Cordova added that Mendoza was willing to fight Salud in New York, but Salud’s camp could not raise enough money.

“They said Bob Arum was going to promote the fight in New York,” Cordova said. “But when I talked to Bob Arum, he said he had never spoken with them. So they were lying.”

Salud dropped out of the WBA rankings after his loss to Benavides on NBC in March 1990. But Cordova said he did not necessarily agree with the ranking committee’s decision.

“I think Jesus Salud deserves to be ranked, but I don’t control those things,” he said.

DePhilippis said Salud’s lackluster performance against Benavides was caused partly by his problems with the WBA.

“Jesus’s mind was on them stripping him of his title during the Benavides fight,” DePhilippis said. “By the time they fought, (the WBA) had already made up their mind to take the title way. Jesus would have taken Benavides out in five rounds if his head would have been there.”

Wambold, who has been training Salud for two years, still believes his fighter is the class of the junior featherweight division.

“Without question, Jesus is the hardest punching 122-pounder,” Wambold said. “Some may have better boxing skills, but Jesus has improved his too.

“He’s got a lot more movement now. Before, he won his fights on raw guts and strength. He’s winning now because of head movement, and he’s sitting down on his punches better.”

But no matter how polished he becomes, Salud will continue to toil in obscurity unless he receives another title shot. Which is why he has almost abandoned hope of recapturing the WBA belt.

At the moment, Salud’s camp believes the WBC title is more attainable. Tracey Patterson, the WBC’s No. 1 contender, is having problems making weight and is close to moving up a division. If that happens, Salud would be ranked No. 1 and guaranteed a title bout with champion Daniel Zaragoza.

Wambold said it had better happen soon.

“Every year of a boxer’s life is like seven years of another profession,” Wambold said. “Jesus should be very wealthy by now. But instead, he doesn’t have anything to show for it.”

DEL MAR BOXING

Site--Del Mar Fairgrounds, auditorium.

Time--8 tonight.

Admission--Fair entrance fee of $6.

Main event

122 pounds--Jesus Salud, Spring Valley (38-4, 20 knockouts) vs. Vincente Gonzales, Los Angeles (15-9, 6 knockouts), 10 rounds.

Undercard

160 pounds--Jesus Lopez Cinco, Los Angeles (1-1, 1 knockout) vs. Paul Vaden, San Diego (2-0), 4 rounds.

Heavyweight--Leon Carter, Cleveland, (2-0, 1 knockout) vs. Eddie Williams, San Diego (1-1), 4 rounds.

147 pounds--Mario Vaca, Guadalajara (pro debut) vs. Cisco Magayon, San Diego (pro debut), 4 rounds.

135 pounds--Jose Jiminez, Tijuana (8-7, 5 knockouts) vs. Paulino Gonzales, Culican, Mexico (6-3, 4 knockouts), 4 rounds.

165 pounds--David Gamble, St. Louis (4-0, 2 knockouts) vs. Luis Mejia, Irvine (4-0, 2 knockouts), 4 rounds.