All Hail King David

Born David Nahon in Casablanca, Morocco on October 27, 1940, the fighter who would be known as "King David" was one of nine children. "He was a tough little Jew running the streets of Casablanca, where a Jew had better be tough or able to run, and preferably both," wrote Larry Merchant of the Philadelphia Daily News. Nahon grew up in a ghetto to a father who was a poor tailor.

The Casablanca Mellah traditionally housed the Jewish population, which numbered 100,000 throughout the city as late as the 1950s. Situated in the southern portion the old city, the mellah was a hub of merchants and artisans, but overcrowding and crumbling infrastructure made life difficult for David during his first decade.

As an eight year old, young David saw an Arab merchant selling a single boxing glove. He scrounged together a few centimes to buy it and then made a second glove himself. At the age of ten, David was shipped to Israel while his family remained in Morocco. He wouldn't see his parents, five sisters, or three brothers again for many years. He couldn't even contact them until he arrived in the United States because there was no mail service between Morocco and Israel.

In Israel, he grew up on a kibbutz. He eventually became a welder, but David always had a desire to box. He fought in amateur bouts, but two and half years in the air force interrupted his progress.

"Jack [Sheldovski], who is the only boxing promoter in Israel, sent David to the U.S. and his old friend Sammy Schiff, a lightweight of the '20s who is David's co-manager and trainer," wrote Lew Eskin in The Ring. A southpaw from New York, Schiff's career lasted from 1918-1928 when he faced good fighters such as Harry "Kid" Brown, Benny Pascal, and Joe Tiplitz. The other co-manager, George Sheppard, was the mouthpiece of the operation.

Sheppard had fought in Canada in the 1920s before moving to New York. After a particularly rough fight in which he received two black eyes, Sheppard asked his new manager how much the fellow typically made to guide his fighters. It was enough to convince Sheppard to stop fighting and start managing. He guided the career of Baltimore southpaw Jack Portney, and once punched famed Baltimore manager Heine Blaustein four times after Portney fought dirty against Sylvan Bass. Blaustein retaliated by launching a milk bottle at Sheppard's head. The two ornery managers later shook hands. Working as a matchmaker a decade later, Sheppard, the eventual 1958 manager of the year, was socked in the face by a fighter after not putting him on a show in New Haven and had to go to the dentist.

Sheppard came up with the moniker "King David" for Nahon. The two attended Congregation Darchei Noam in New York together. David observed Shabbat every week. "If we have to have a Jewish fighter, it's nice to have a good clean boy like that," said Rabbi Arthur Neulander of Darchei Noam.

With bronze skin and black olive eyes, King David had arrived at Idlewild Airport (now JFK) in October of 1963 to start his campaign for the welterweight title. Facially, he resembled the late middleweight world champion Marcel Cerdan, but The Ring described his skills as that of "a novice." He debuted the next month with a stoppage victory a little more than a minute after the fight began.

He rattled off sixteen consecutive victories in the eighteen months since his arrival from Israel. The opponents were those you'd expect to face a well-managed fighter with limited experience. Robert Lipsyte described King David's win over Alfred St. George on January 6, 1964 as "the grossest mismatch of the evening."

Weigh-ins took place the day of the fight in those days and if that day was a Saturday, King David needed an allowance to weigh-in later in the evening. It meant he didn't have as much time to refuel as his opponents had.

On April 26, 1965 at the Arena in Philadelphia, King David lost to the unheralded Roger Evans, who notched his first pro win by decision. Two weeks later at the same venue, King David avenged his first defeat. That summer he tried to get into Sheppard's home country of Canada, but was denied entry.

King David's last fight was in the main event against Ulysses Jimenez at the Sunnyside Gardens in Queens. The former three-division world champion and World War II hero Barney Ross was in his corner. But Jimenez outboxed King David to win by decision.

Nahon finished his career 19-2 with 4 KOs. In an era of few Jewish fighters, King David provided a brief hope of a return to Jewish boxing prominence.

Sources

Courtney, Gene. "This King Must Work Hard for His Crown." The Philadelphia Inquirer. Mar. 16, 1964. Pg. 25.

Eskin, Lew. "Three Youngsters on the Way." The Ring. Jul. 1964. Pg. 31.

"Fighter Clips Matchmaker Below Nose." The Washington Post. Jan. 27, 1948. Pg. 12.

Gobetz, Gary. "Israel Boxer a 'Smash' in New York." The National Jewish Post and Opinion. Jan. 17, 1964.

Goldstein, Alan. "Boxing Pilot Pulls First." The Baltimore Sun. Apr. 16, 1961. Pg. 14D.

Lipsyte, Robert. "Irish Bob Tells All the Boxing World's Not His Oyster." New York Times. Jan 7, 1964. Pg. 27.

Merchant, Larry. "Jewish Youth Who Came to Fight." Philadelphia Daily News. Mar. 11, 1964. Pg. 59.

Doron Zinman to Face Thabang Mofula

Doron "Buzzsaw" Zinman is scheduled to fight Thabang "Big Engine" Mofula at Big Top Arena in Carnival City, South Africa on April 18. Zinman is 3-0 with 1 KO. The 21 year old from Cape Town will be coming off of a nearly eleven-month layoff when he enters the ring.

Zinman is a shorter fighter, who likes to fight on the inside and trap his man against the ropes. He spent much of last summer training with Brandon Woods stateside in Las Vegas, Nevada. He's now back in South Africa working with Colin Nathan.

Mofula is 1-3 with one KO. From Orkney, Northwest, South Africa, he was an excellent amateur boxer last decade. The 28 year old won his debut eight years, but he has lost his last three. His career stalled after his second loss in 2020. He took a five-year layoff and fought again last year. Mofula, who has never been stopped, will be the most experienced opponent Zinman will have faced.

Zak-Dorodola Canceled

The cruiserweight clash between Yan Zak and Ola Dorodola has been canceled. The fight had been scheduled to take place on April 10 in Dubai, but the current war in the Middle East has grounded many flights out of Israel.

Israel and the United States attacked Iran on February 28, assassinating Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. While the U.S. and Israel continue to strike Iran, Iran and its allies have countered with strikes against Israel and several Arab nations. Several Iranian drone strikes have hit Dubai, where the government of the United Arab Emirates has arrested any citizen filming the destruction.

In an address to the country, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to say today that the timeline for ending the war is "two-to-three weeks." Yesterday, he explained, "We're finishing the job, and I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer, to do the job."

But President Trump has shifted his timeline during this war. In early March, he said, "We projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that." On March 9, he said "I think the war is very complete, pretty much." He added, "We're very far ahead of schedule."

Eleven days later, President Trump reiterated, "I think we won. We've knocked out their Navy, their Air Force. We've knocked out their anti-aircraft. We've knocked out everything." On March 24, he said, "We've won this. This war has been won." And yet it persists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained his timeline yesterday. "It's definitely beyond the halfway point," he said. "But I don't want to put a schedule on it."

As the war continues, Yan Zak and the other Israeli boxers sit on the sideline, which unfortunately has become an all-to-frequent occurrence since the attacks of October 7, 2023. Those attacks and the resulting conflict in Gaza understandably put boxing on the backburner. Last summer's twelve day war against Iran also caused a disruption for the boxers.

The military actions of the Israeli government since the October 7 attacks have been widely unpopular outside of the country. The global criticism of Israeli foreign policy has drifted into the realm of antisemitism at an alarming rate and negatively affected many Jewish boxers regardless of their position on the subject, from getting fights to experiencing verbal attacks online and in person.

When fighters can't get fights due to politics, it typically has to do with managerial and promotional contracts. But the recent history of the Jewish people can accurately be told through the lens of  boxing, and the events of the present are no exception.