There was a point Friday night when Dmitriy Salita left the venue where his company promoted a card associated with the International Boxing Hall of Fame’s annual induction weekend.

The retired junior welterweight contender wanted to watch each fight on the eight-bout card from his ringside seat at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. As an observant Orthodox Jew, however, Salita honors the constraints of Shabbat, the period of rest, reflection and spiritual enrichment that starts at sundown each Friday and ends at nightfall every Saturday.

Salita’s religious restrictions are all that can temporarily keep the 43-year-old promoter from boxing these days. Eleven years after he last fought in November 2013, the resilient Salita remains firmly committed to his goal of reaching the upper echelon of promoters in this brutal business.

Salita applies the same determination to the challenges of becoming a more influential promoter that he did to overcoming his physical limitations when the Ukrainian immigrant trained around more talented fighters at the Starrett City Boxing Club in Brooklyn as a youth.

Though nowhere near where he hopes his career as a promoter takes him, Salita couldn’t imagine doing anything else. He could’ve pursued another career once he earned his bachelor’s degree in 2012 from Touro University in New York, but boxing is in his blood.

“I’ve dedicated a significant portion of my life to boxing and I feel a very intimate, close, loving relationship with it,” Salita told The Ring. “I’ve bled for it, sweat for it, cried for it, laughed for it, so I feel like I’ve got the skills to be one of the best [promoters] in the game. And I was willing to pay the price to go through the different levels [of promoting] in boxing.”

Salita promoted his first show in September 2010, when he was an active fighter. He determined he should start working for himself once Salita became a promotional free agent after his first-round technical-knockout loss to Amir Khan, then the WBA super lightweight champion, in December 2009.

The studious Salita paid close attention to what occurred behind the scenes when he was promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, Square Ring Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions during the first 8½ years of his career. That education enabled him to become a full-time promoter, thanks to assistance from silent investors in his company, once he retired following a 10-round, unanimous-decision defeat to Gabriel Bracero 11½ years ago.

“All of that was a great education for me,” Salita said, “to see how different successful, big companies function and how they do business. I think one of my strengths is being able to recognize talent and to progress them correctly, to make sure they reach the upper echelon of their ability. I credit a lot of that to Top Rank. One of the things I remember is they had three and four matchmakers and three and four publicists, the best of the best. Obviously, developing fighters is very important and telling their stories is very important.”

Representing Claressa Shields since her second professional fight afforded Salita the opportunity to help tell one of boxing’s most inspiring stories of the 21st century.

Shields survived countless challenges, including sexual abuse, to win two Olympic gold medals and world titles in five divisions on her way to becoming the most accomplished female fighter in boxing history. A major motion picture about her life, “The Fire Inside,” premiered in theaters throughout the United States last Christmas Day.

In the ring, Shields’ bouts have been broadcast by HBO and Showtime, in addition her bouts on DAZN.

Salita has also worked with heavyweight contenders Jarrell Miller, Jermaine Franklin and Otto Wallin, super middle contender Vladimir Shishkin, junior welterweight contender Shohjahon Ergashev and featherweight contender Nikolai Potapov. More recently, he became former IBF junior welterweight champ Subriel Matias’ co-promoter and signed WBC women’s super middleweight champ Franchon Crews Dezurn to a contract.

Lou DiBella, one of his former promoters, admires Salita’s willingness to try to make his way as a promoter without the benefit of a substantial streaming or television deal. DAZN does stream some of Salita’s shows, including the aforementioned card Friday night, but he usually works with a much smaller budget than prominent promoters like Arum, Oscar De La Hoya, Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren.

“I think he works really hard and I think he hustles,” DiBella told The Ring. “As long as the existing promotional system continues, we need some younger promoters, particularly promoters who understand what it’s like to be a fighter, which he does. I like Dmitriy. I’m a fan.”

As often occurs within the complicated confines of the boxing business, Salita has dealt with his fair share of fighters, managers and promoters who wouldn’t be as complimentary as DiBella. In fact, he has endured so many legal entanglements, most notably a drawn-out lawsuit with Miller, that Salita started attending law school online two years ago to gain a better understanding of the legal issues he navigates as a promoter.

“Some of these guys who I’ve had these conflicts with, I’ve developed good relationships with them to this day,” Salita said. “Because just like when I first went to school, sometimes people made fun of you because you don’t have the best shoes and wanna take your lunch money. But when you stand up for yourself, you establish respect. So, I stand up for myself.”

Salita’s contract with Miller was upheld and he remained one of Miller’s promoters until recently. Six years ago, Miller tested positive for four performance-enhancing drugs, which cost the brash Brooklyn native a shot at then-unbeaten heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s titles at Madison Square Garden in New York and what would’ve been the biggest payday for both Miller and Salita.

Miller’s removal from the Joshua fight was one of the lowest points of Salita’s career as a promoter. He nonetheless tried to use it as a teachable moment and became better educated about how the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association tests fighters for PEDs.

“Boxing is a very tough business,” Salita said. “There are a lotta people that are very capable and very smart and very financially secure that have gotten into the sport and didn’t make it. These examples go on and on. It always happens. And, of course, I think it’s normal to have doubt and to have fear and feel that uncertainty. But there’s something deep inside, underneath it, that makes me feel that it’s gonna be all right and that it’s gonna work.”

Salita’s company would gain some leverage within the industry if Puerto Rico’s Matias (22-2, 22 KOs) beats WBC 140-pound champ Alberto Puello (24-0, 10 KOs) on “Ring III,” The Ring’s pay-per-view card scheduled for July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York.

Shields (16-0, 3 KOs) will headline another Salita Promotions event July 26 at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit. The Flint, Michigan native is scheduled to defend her IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles against Lani Daniels (11-2-2, 1 KO) in a 10-round main event DAZN will stream.

Salita, who resides in a suburb of Detroit, will also continue to stage shows in that area that typically feature prospects his company promotes.

“As Dmitriy has said, he’s trying to make his bones in this business,” DiBella said. “He doesn’t have a decades-long career at top levels. He’s trying to scrape his way to a future business plan. So far, he’s doing a decent job of keeping himself in the mix and creating his own lane. That’s very hard to do in the present environment. A lot of people have left the business in the last few years. Dmitriy is clearly going in the other direction.”