Jewish Boxing in 2025

The year in Jewish boxing was dominated by two newcomers with very different backstories and fighting styles. Yan Zak and Brooklyn Barwick are both in their mid-20s and both made their professional debuts this year, but the similarities stop there.

Zak, a 25 year old Israeli, is a decorated amateur. He won the gold medal at the U-22 European Championships a couple years ago and has competed - and even defeated - some of the very best amateurs in the world. He turned pro in May and ends the year with a record of 5-0 with 3 KOs against stiff competition. Zak is a terrific prospect, but the challenge will be to find opponents good enough that his skills won't regress. Hopefully, he refrains from picking up bad habits against foes who are not nearly as good as him.

Barwick, on the other hand, comes from the world of influencer boxing. The 26 year old American had no amateur experience before turning pro in March. In many ways, Zak and Barwick represent two divergent paths in the sport of boxing currently. Whereas the amateur standout Zak has only recently cultivated his social media presence, Barwick's social media game is ahead of her boxing ability. A brawler, Barwick has improved tremendously in her six pro fights, all knockout victories, feasting on inexperienced Latin American fodder. She talks a good game, but is also putting in the work in the gym, where she is catching up after a late start in boxing.

David Alaverdian returned from an extensive layoff with an impressive decision victory in February. He coached in Israel much of the year. Cletus Seldin won a decision in March, but recently came back with an adverse finding for PEDs before his last fight.

Joshua Feldman and Doron Zinman, who both won in February and again in May, have spent much of the year training Las Vegas under the tutelage of Brandon Woods. Lev Jackson came back and won two fights in Mexico this year, both by knockout. Odelia Ben Ephraim lost her fight. She was the B-side in Spain against a stylish undefeated prospect. Though Ben Ephraim's record was 0-1 and she had to leave her old gym because of pettiness from its management, her 2025 represented the best of boxing. She didn't look to pad her record; instead, she took on a difficult challenge, gave the fans a high-level and thrilling fight, and keeps working to get better.

Danielle Cohen and Devin Struben won their fights in 2025. David Malul not only took two decision victories, but started his own promotional company, in New York of all places, no easy task. Daniel Ivanovski was 2-0, both fights within eight days of each other. Yonatan Landman didn't fight this year, but is training hard and spoke with The JBB in February.

Past Jewish boxers Larry Boardman, "The Corn Belt Ace" Hymie Wiseman, "A Laborer in the Entertainment Business" Benny Franklin, "The Human Sponge" Alf Ros, "The Casino" Dino Berkowitz, "The Jewish Jolter" Ronnie Cohen, "The Conqueror of Jackie Fields" Harry Wallach, legendary promoter Don Elbaum, and Hall of Famer Jill Matthews were all remembered by The Jewish Boxing Blog this year.

On a personal note: I published several articles for other websites during the first half of the year. I hope to continue doing so in 2026. Away from boxing, 2025 was something of a monumental year for me professionally, which somewhat diverted my attention away from The JBB the last few months. Fans of Jewish boxing don't have to worry though, The JBB is committed to providing the fans with the usual quality of coverage about all things Jewish boxing past, present, and future. Thank you all for your support.