With any luck, one of the night’s featured fighters will begin her “real” boxing career at promoter Joe Donofrio’s October 21 free “Ring Kings at the Palace” show at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan.

Despite an extended series of setbacks, 24-year-old Grand Rapids native Jennifer “The Bolivian” Salinas (8-1, 3 KOs) says she has continued to hope for a day when she could start taking on world-class opponents and proving she belongs among the best in women’s boxing.

But wanting something very badly isn’t always enough. Fate has to cooperate a little as well.

“As soon as I started boxing, I got pregnant. I was actually fighting pregnant, not knowing it. I found out in my second trimester.” And while Salinas says she deeply loves her now two year old daughter, becoming a mother meant taking a year and a half off boxing.

“I also haven’t stayed busy because of a hand injury. That’s why I had a loss last year. I had surgery, had a cast on my hand. And then I would try to get back in the gym slowly, but I kept fracturing it again. I’ve been boxing for five years and I only have 15 amateur and pro fights altogether.”

But her boxing fortunes seem to be changing now that Salinas has hooked up with Detroit’s Donofrio. “I fought on his card in February with a week’s notice and they found an opponent quickly for me. She was a bum. I beat her in thirty seconds. People were booing. I asked him if he would give me another chance on this card, except this time in a competitive bout. He said he’s interested in helping me.”

And according to Salinas, that’s exactly what Donofrio has done. “I’m telling you, because of all his connections, in the week and a half I’ve been here, I’ve done more in boxing than in four years in Grand Rapids. I’ve gone to gyms, met coaches, met people in the business and exchanged information. In fact, I just sparred five rounds with Mary Jo Sanders. There is no sparring in Grand Rapids. If I do get to spar, it’s not with girls.” 

And the nagging hand injury? Salinas say she’s come up with a solution for that as well. “I used to only wear the yellow gauze and that’s good protection, but considering my hand situation, I have to make sure I always tape my hands properly with gauze, padding and tape. That makes a huge difference. I trained today and my hands felt great. I’m just going to have to take 15 to 20 minutes to wrap properly before I train.”

She doesn’t want the easy road and she doesn’t want anything handed to her. Jennifer Salinas just wants to finally have a shot at making her own destiny.

With any luck, this time she’ll get it.

Premium tickets for “Ring Kings of the Palace” are priced at $85.00 front row, $75.00 ringside and $50.00 VIPand $25.00 and are on sale now at www.palacenet.com, The Palace Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. For more information, visit www.palacenet.com. Doors will open on fight night at 6:30 pm. The action starts at 8:00 pm.