Joshua Feldman: Makes Weight, Ready for Step-Up Fight

Junior middleweights Joshua Feldman and Emile Brits both made the 154 pound limit ahead of their ten-round contest tomorrow at Maker's Landing in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. The winner will capture a minor belt.

Feldman weighed in at 153.2 pounds. With a record of 7-0 (3 KOs), the native of Cape Town has been remarkably consistent with his weight throughout his young career. He's been within a pound and a quarter for all of his fights. After the weigh-in, he refueled on Pasta Napoletana with chicken and bread.

Over the past year, the 22-year-old southpaw has been working with Brandon Woods at DLX Gym in Las Vegas. "His knowledge and ability to breakdown the fundamentals is unparalleled," Josh said of his coach.

Woods apprenticed for over a decade under the watchful idea of Kenny Adams, a legendary teacher and Hall of Fame trainer. The student helped the great Nonito Donaire prepare for his clash against Naoya Inoue, perhaps the best fighter in the world. Illness prevented him from working the corner that night.

A classic boxer when he first traveled to Vegas, Feldman has added weapons to his arsenal. "I'm very excited to show my progress in this fight." he told The Jewish Boxing Blog. "I've completely transformed the past year." One area of improvement has been his inside game. After sparring against Mexican contenders, Feldman realized his infighting needed work.

"Brandon has given me a great understanding of how to fight on the inside, using glove manipulation techniques, and moving my body in perpetual motion to create offense," Feldman told The JBB. That doesn't necessarily mean that's the game plan for tomorrow night against Brits, but it's a realistic option now.

Feldman and Brits sparred a little over two years ago. Josh felt he got the better of the session though he acknowledged Brits's team said their man was out of shape. "I know I've progressed a ton in the last two years," explained Feldman.

That progress has come about thanks in part to sparring with the likes of Francisco Veron, Stevie McKenna, and the Terteryan twins, Sebastian and Nikolai - the latter an Olympian. "It's given me a ton of confidence," Feldman said. "I couldn't have hung with them when I first got here last year, but I now can give great work to any 154 pounder out there." He credits Coach Woods with that development.

Brits, a 6-3 (3 KOs) 30 year old from Kraaifontein on the outskirts of Cape Town, weighed in at 152.6 pounds. He's a tough veteran of combat sports who has never been stopped. Splitting his time between welterweight and junior middle, the five and a half year pro has faced the far stiffer competition under the lights. A rough come-forward fighter, Brits signifies Feldman's toughest opponent to date. It's a challenge Josh will face without Woods, who couldn't make the trip to Cape Town.

The fight is scheduled to be shown on Ignition TV in South Africa.

Cyril Benzaquen's Brief Boxing Career

Cyril Benzaquen medaled at prestigious amateur Muay Thai championships. He's a world champion kickboxer, who has been rated in the top ten in the world across different promotions. A model, speaker, promoter, and entrepreneur, Benzaquen has done just about everything. He even dabbled in professional boxing.

Of Moroccan heritage, the 36-year-old Benzaquen was born in France. He started kickboxing at the age of 13. After a successful amateur career in both kickboxing and Muay Thai, he turned pro in 2010. Benzaquen, who has two Master's degrees, won the ISKA light heavyweight title in 2015.

Cyril, who was trained by the legendary André Zeitoun, is known for his technical skills. "He was a really serious man in the gym," Zeitoun said of his former student. "He has good hands and very good low kicks," he told The Jewish Boxing Blog.

In 2018, Benzaquen decided to see what those good hands could do. On May 25, he debuted as a professional boxer. He dropped a four-rounder to the more experienced Matthieu Bernardet, three rounds to one. Less than a month later, Benzaquen swept the cards against Jeffe Florentz. On February 9 the following year, Benzaquen lost a close fight by split decision against another more experienced foe, Mehdi Salouane. Benzaquen finished with a pro boxing record of 1-2.

Cyril took his flying knees back to kickboxing, where he continued his astonishing success. He made his return to Glory in 2024 and won another ISKA world title. He is an eight-time world champion, a mark which includes title defenses in French kickboxing. Though his boxing career was brief, the champ continues to add to his long list of achievements in other disciplines.

The Big Deal is Back

Brooklyn "The Big Deal" Barwick took the summer off from boxing to visit Israel. The 26 year old featherweight linked up with several members of the Israeli combat sports community. Moshe, the brother of Nili Block, the Baltimore-born Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion, was one. While in the Holy Land, Barwick met the celebrity chef Tom Aviv and connected with Assaf of IsraelsMMA.

Barwick is nearing the end of her conversion journey. Born to a Jewish father, she is converting to Orthodox Judaism. "The conversion is long, hard and I've had to learn thirteen years of knowledge in nine months, but I'm feeling really good," she told The Jewish Boxing Blog.

She's developing self-defense courses, particularly for women, but also for co-eds. "I want to teach Jews how to fight," she said. Barwick held a self-defense seminar at the Palm Shtrimpin Festival in New York over the summer. Her next seminar is a women's safety class scheduled for Unity Litt's Rosh Hashanah Retreat. After experiencing controlling behavior in a past relationship, she wants to teach frum women and girls to protect themselves.

Brooklyn got back to training last week with the Sosa crew at New York Cops & Kids in Flatbush. She's targeting a fight in the fall at 126, before planning a move down to junior featherweight. She's currently seeking additional sponsors for her next bout.

If that isn't enough, Barwick announced, "I have a DJ set coming out soon. It's a break-up tune, and I hope that it shows you can come from nothing and turn into something." The EDM aficionado is aiming to walk out to her song in her next fight. She'll also sport a return to what she calls "Big Deal Blonde," as she was moments from a visit to the hairstylist during our phone conversation.

"It's a brand," she said. One the 7-1 fighter with seven KOs, looks to continue. "I am going to be a "'Big Deal' for as long as I can."