Focused for Battle: What Boxers Think during the Referee's Instructions

The fighters stride towards each other for the final time before the opening bell. The anticipation in the crowd becomes palpable. The long-awaited fight is moments away. The referee reminds the combatants to listen to the official's commands and to protect themselves at all times, and perhaps bellows a catchphrase afterwards. But the boxers ignore any cry of "Let's get it on," "What I say you must obey," or "I'm fair but I'm firm."

Rare is the boxer that disagrees with ex-fighter Tony Milch, who says, "I am hearing the referee but not really listening." Unless, that is, they side with another former fighter Dustin Fleischer (6-0), who admits, "I really didn't even hear the referee. I was just thinking about destroying my opponent."

With all eyes on the two fighters staring at each other in center ring for one last time before the first round, the boxers typically turn inward.

Active fighter Cletus Seldin (26-1) says, "I'm just telling myself how hard I worked and to stick to the game plan." He tells himself, "No matter what, don't stop. When the bell rings, be relentless."

Former world champion Yuri Foreman (35-4) tells himself, "This is it!" The ordained rabbi says a little prayer. He takes the four or five steps back to his corner and reminds himself, "Just be myself."

As with Seldin and Foreman, recently retired puncher Shawn Sarembock (8-0-1) acknowledges this is the culmination of all his hard work. He is thinking, "Let's go! It's go time! Or any derivative of that. Time to put up. Time to switch on."

"We're all flooded with thoughts throughout the day," explains Nancy Harazduk, the Director of the Mind-Body Medicine Program at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. "These boxers are controlling their thoughts in a positive way. They aren't allowing their thoughts to control them."

Of the moments when the referee is giving the final instructions, undefeated pro David Alaverdian
(8-0-1) explains, "My mind is blank." Milch (14-2) describes something similar, "My mind is clear. I'm looking at the opponent, preparing myself mentally to be clear and focused for battle and all the training that has gone into it."

Retired fighter Merhav Mohar (16-2) says, "Being present, without any distracting thoughts is a true measure of professionalism, and takes a lot of practice."

Harazduk says these fighters- by having a clear mind and being present- are in an alpha state. "An alpha state is when your brain waves slow down. Your thoughts recede to the background, and you're not aware of any incoming thoughts. These boxers are 'in the zone' so to speak."

Prospect Odelia Ben Ephraim (4-2) gives a play-by-play of how she enters an alpha state, "The last moments before a fight, I think about what my coach told me during the warm-up. I focus on his words and I feel very calm and focused. I repeat the words in my head again and again.

"When I enter the ring I don't actually have concrete thoughts," she says. "I'm very focused, and I concentrate on my breathing. I think about all the stress and pressure that goes down during the last hours before a fight, until the last moment. When the referee gives instructions, there's just a big calm in my head, the calm before the storm!"

For Dmitriy Salita (35-2), a retired boxer who is now a successful promoter, what he was thinking depended on his physical condition. "Ideally, you're thinking about the next five seconds. You recognize voices from the gym you're accustomed to. You tell yourself, 'Time to take care of business.'" Salita says.

But when he over-trained, Salita admits, "My mind runs. I think, 'Many people are watching me. Did this guy get a seat?'" Those same thoughts also make Salita a good promoter.

Ultimately, when the referee gives the final instructions, it's a chance for the fighters to control their thoughts and enter into the zone. It marks the line that divides the pre-fight activities from battle.

*****

Part of standing in center ring just before the fight involves the final stare-down. The boxers interviewed had very different interpretations of the importance of the practice. Although at times it seemed as if they were directly responding to one another, the boxers interviewed were not told what others had said.

Yuri Foreman says he doesn't try to stare down an opponent. He has blurred vision while looking at his opponent and just stays in his own head.

Odelia Ben Ephraim explains, "I always make eye contact with my opponent, and I focus on not looking down, the eye of the tiger!" She feels it's important to look the opponent in the eye out of respect and to honor tradition. "It's like looking in a mirror. My opponent and I had the same preparation, the same struggles getting ready for this fight- more or less of course. But it takes the same courage to step up into the ring for both of us, and for me, looking into her eyes is a sign of respect. It's also an old boxing tradition, and it's the moment when the fight starts for real."

Merhav Mohar always aimed to intimidate his opponents. He contends, "From my experience, those last moments before the fight in center ring, I would stare down my opponent as hard as possible, and if he would break eye contact to look at the referee or his instructions, I would take that as a sign of my victory. I know what’s a low blow and to obey the referee, so there was no need to focus on him or what he says. I would look for any weakness or doubt my opponent would show."

David Alaverdian, who was interviewed many months before Mohar, vehemently disagrees. Alaverdian stares at his opponent, but he's not consciously trying to look him in the eye. He's not trying to intimidate his opponent. He argues "I don't believe in that. Some people think if the other guy looks down, you broke him. That's bullshit."

Shawn Sarembock feels attempting to intimidate the opponent is important. Sarembock also uses the stare-down for strategic purposes. "I give them a once-over to see where the cup is, so I know where I can work the body, " he says. "I also check to see if the opponent's body is soft."

Dmitriy Salita and Cletus Seldin had the exact same reason to reach the exact opposite conclusion.  Salita says, "People judged me and felt I was an easy fight based on the way I looked. I did try to stare down my opponent. The stare-down is important."

Conversely, Seldin explains, "I never once thought 'Let's win the fight off intimidation.' I always pictured them thinking, 'There's no way I'm losing to a white Jewish kid from Long Island,' so to me it never felt worth trying."

There's no right or wrong answer. Whether there's any value in trying to intimidate the opponent is simply a matter of opinion. Ultimately, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. If fighters believe the stare-down is unimportant, it won't matter to them. For fighters who give the stare-down significance, it can serve as an extra source of confidence, assuming the interaction goes the fighter's way. Regardless, there is no one way to become focused for battle.

Top 5 Jewish Israeli Boxers

Evgheni Boico's Top 5 Jewish Israeli Boxers

Evgheni Boico is a boxing coach based in Ashdod, Israel and a promoter, first with B&B Promotions and now heading both Arena Boxing Israel and Arena Boxing Moldova. Boico has been instrumental in bringing professional boxing back to Israel. He's not only at the forefront of boxing's recent revival in Israel, but he's also extremely knowledgeable about the history of prizefighting in the country. Evgheni has been very gracious in sharing his boxing expertise with The Jewish Boxing Blog over the years.

Boico notes that #5 on this great list, Motzi Spakow (a.k.a Moți Spakov), fought in British Palestine in 1937 and then had five or six bouts in Israel after independence, none of which are listed on BoxRec at this time. Boico describes him as "the first pro boxer of Israel."

1. Yuri Foreman
2. Hagar Finer
3. David Oved
4. Ran Nakash
5. Motzi Spakow



Other Top 5s
Jewish North African Boxers
Jewish Canadian Boxers
Jewish British Boxers
Jewish Female Boxers
Jewish French Boxers
Jewish Dutch Boxers
Jewish Londoner Boxers
Jewish South African Boxers
Jewish Boxers since 1960
Jewish Bareknuckle Boxers

2022: Year in Review

Canceled fights and curious decisions defined the year in Jewish boxing. Sadly, there were more canceled or postponed fights this year than actual fights. The Jewish Boxing Blog summed up the frustratingly unfair outcomes in an article last month.

David Alaverdian went 2-0-1 with 2 KOs in the pro ranks. He deserved to win the draw. Shawn Sarembock improved his record to 8-0 with 8 KOs. Stefi Cohen and Isaac Chilemba each went 1-1 this year. Igor Lazarev lost both of his fights but deserved to win one of them.

On September 15, four Jewish boxers took part in three bouts in Ashdod, Israel. Kickboxing star Itay Gershon won his pro boxing debut. Prospect Sagiv Ismailov won his third fight, and Aki Mishaev scored a knockout in his second fight. Ismailov, Mishaev, and Lazarev are among the Jewish boxers scheduled to fight on a card in Bnei Ayish, Israel on February 9. The resurgence of pro boxing in Israel is a big development.

There were quite a few boxing exhibition events in Israel this year, a great way to grow the sport in the country. Former world champion Hagar Finer put on a couple of them. Mor Oknin, Mikhael Ostroumov, and Nikita Basin were among the Jewish pro boxers to take part in such shows.

Former world champion Robert Cohen Z"L and heavyweight contender Tim Puller Z"L passed away this year.

The JBB reviewed Holocaust Histories, a podcast about boxers victimized during the Shoah. The reviews of books published this year or late last year include Boxing in Atlantic City, Gangsters vs Nazis, and The Unexpected Danny Green.

Some noteworthy profiles of past Jewish boxers were of Charley Phil Rosenberg, Henry Nissen, Ray Miller, Jack "Kid" Berg, and Izzy Zerling. Then, there was a look back at the wild Israeli amateur boxing scandal in 1988 and the night in 1929 when five Jewish boxing stars fought to raise money for the Jews of British Palestine. Two articles examined the different brands of boxing gloves and the importance of pad work.

The JBB conducted interviews with a few Jewish boxers this year. The interview with Yuri Foreman became two articles, one on his ambitions and another on his reflections. There were two separate interviews with David Alaverdian, one in article form, and a different one in video form. Shawn Michael Sarembock told The JBB his inspiring story. And the two articles about Dmitriy Salita concentrated on his career as a boxer and his work as a promoter.

As for The Jewish Boxing Blog, this year was amazing! Two of the last four months have seen the most traffic in the nearly 13-year history of this site. The other two months were not far behind. The number of followers of the Jewish Boxing Instagram page has more than tripled in the past year, and Twitter followers have doubled in the past two years. A special shoutout to supporters of the Jewish Boxing BuyMeACoffee page ($3 for all newsletters). You are truly appreciated!

Next year looks like there will be a few pro debuts, which is exciting. And hopefully, there will be many more fights. All the best to you and yours.

News and Notes

Shawn Sarembock, a 31 year old junior middleweight, had been tentatively scheduled to fight on December 16, but his bout has been pushed back to January although nothing is official yet. Check out his interview last month with The Jewish Boxing Blog.

Yuri Foreman worked with his old trainer Joe Grier this past week. Grier, who is retired, helped Foreman win the WBA junior middleweight world championship in 2009. Grier threw in the towel after Foreman tore his ACL in his first title defense against Miguel Cotto in Yankee Stadium. In so doing, Grier attempted to save his fighter by stopping the fight in the eighth round, but referee Arthur Mercante Jr. inexplicably rejected the towel and forced the fight to continue. Foreman, normally an agile boxer, was a sitting duck because of his compromised leg.

David Kaminsky, a 22 year old super middleweight, had surgery this week to repair a torn ACL and MCL. Despite the injuries, he attempted to fight on October 8th, but the California State Athletic Commission won't allow him to enter the ring until his injuries are surgically repaired. The absolute minimum timetable to rehabilitate after ACL surgery is six months, but a year is closer to the norm.

The Importance of Pad Work

*Pat-pat-pat-pat* Floyd Mayweather's Grant gloves land with a unique mixture of speed and grace on the carefully placed Everlast mitts of his uncle Roger. A generation of aspiring boxers watch as Floyd throws nine punches in less than two seconds on HBO's hit show 24/7.


Origins and Popularization
The origins of pad work are murky. All roads lead to an unsourced Wikipedia article, but there are some verifiable moments of significance. The martial arts legend and actor Bruce Lee designed a focus mitt that looked something like a baseball catcher's glove. Hall of Fame coach Emanuel Steward brought pad work into vogue by initially wearing boxing gloves backwards and catching his charge's punches on the padded backside of the gloves.

But Mayweather's extravagant combinations on 24/7, intricately coordinated with his uncle, popularized pad work. Nowadays, one can find countless social media videos mimicking Mayweather's moves.

Bruce Lee's focus mitts

Styles of Pad Work
Some older trainers disapprove of pad work. Former WBA junior middleweight world champion Yuri Foreman states, "Russian trainers told me, 'Don't embrace the pads,' when I was young." A native of the Soviet Union, Foreman immigrated to Israel before moving to Brooklyn. "It messes up distance. Your perception of distance is very important in boxing."

Adam Hadad, a coach based in Israel, explains why older trainers might be against the exercise. "They often see that Mayweather style and think it’s not real boxing, and they're right. But real pad work is highly valuable and a more modern form of training, so it makes sense that the old guard doesn’t like it."

Shawn Sarembock, an 8-0 fighter with 8 KOs, says, "We use zero hand pads, but not by choice." His dad and trainer, Neil, was a champion kickboxer whose career was cut short due to injury. "It's just me and my dad and I don't want to rip his arms off," Shawn says. "But if I did pad work, I wouldn't do it in the Mayweather style, because I don't fight like that."

Former pro boxer turned coach, Tony Milch says, "I did a lot of pad work with [coach] Ian Burbedge when I was a pro." But he notes, "We didn't do speed pads- Mayweather style- ever." 

"The problem with modern pad work stems from Mayweather’s pad work during open workouts before fights," explains Coach Hadad, who counts Israeli amateur standouts David Bazov and Tomer Benny among his fighters "In front of the cameras Floyd and his uncle did the Mayweather style of pad work: continuous, light combinations with lots of flashy movements. What the Mayweathers did in front of the cameras was just for show."

According to Hadad, a coach- the late James Ricky Coward, known as Coach Rick- started a program called Mittology which taught coaches to hold the pads like Roger Mayweather to produce flashy combinations. Hadad says the videos portrayed this style "as if it were real work rather than fancy stuff for the cameras."

"This style, being visually appealing, proliferated in boxing training because it’s highly Instagramable," Hadad concludes.

Floyd Mayweather works the pads with his uncle Roger

David Alaverdian (6-0-1, 5 KOs), who works with Floyd Mayweather Sr., notes that the fancy Mayweather style of pad work has it's place but can't be the only method. "You gotta do the old school and new pad work style together. You can't just do the new one.

"The biggest problem with the new one is they don't use a lot of footwork," Alaverdian says. "They stand in place, and it's a lot of combinations. So if your opponent is just in front of you, you're going to unload some crazy nice-looking combinations. But what happens when somebody has really good footwork running around the ring? You can't do nothing. You can't even land your jab on this guy."

Hadad agrees that there is something to the Mayweather style, "There is some value to it in terms of building instincts and flow." Specifically about Floyd and his uncle, he expounds, "What most people didn’t contextualize was that that pad work was built over two decades. The original combinations and sequences were sharp and explosive."


The Benefits of Pad Work
Pad work can be used for a variety of reasons. Junior middleweight Tony Milch used pads when he was an active boxer "for sharpness and angles as I was a tall boxer for the weight."

Yuri Foreman says, "I like doing the pads now because it challenges my stamina."

"I find that with beginners, working with the pads allows me to shape their punches and stance faster," Coach Adam Hadad explains. "With advanced fighters, it’s a great tool for tuning counter punches, reactions, and timing. It allows me to push the fighters to have a higher punch rate, more accurate punches, and better overall flow, especially for counter punching."

"That's an advantage that I have over a lot of boxers here in the States," David Alaverdian says of using the old school method of pad work. "Some coaches won't do the basic old school 1-2, jab, jab, jab 1-2 on the pads. They would just do these combination drills all the time. [In a fight against their boxers] I just started running around the ring and using a lot of footwork, and they just can't do anything."

Emanuel Steward works the pads with Thomas Hearns

Alaverdian says both old and new styles of pad work are useful together. "You gotta do both. Because there's a time your opponent's going to move and a time when your opponent's going to stand and trade with you."


Final Thoughts
"As a retired boxer and coach I believe pad work, of course, has its place," says Milch, "but it's not the most important. Overall you do need pad work to keep sharp, but it's not needed as much as boxers or people think nowadays."

"I would do pad work like Abel Sanchez and Triple G [Gennady Golovkin]," says Shawn Sarembock, who, like Milch, believes shadowboxing and sparring are more useful. "Like Robert Garcia does or like Manny Robles."  Sanchez, Garcia, and Robles are all top-level coaches who move around and call for punches that more closely simulate a fight than does the newer style of pad work. 

"It’s hard to maintain focus and motivation with bag work and shadowboxing," Hadad notes. "Pad work is highly engaging and responsive, so it makes training more fun and dynamic."

Though pad work can be quite useful for an expert coach like Hadad, Milch rightly observes, "A lot of people can look good on pads but cannot fight at all."

The opinions of boxers and coaches on pad work are quite nuanced . Those interviewed agree in some areas on the subject and disagree in others. The Mayweather style of pad work may or may not have some value but all agree it shouldn't be a fighter's primary training method. Some see more value in using the pads than others. "Everyone's different," Yuri Foreman puts it aptly. "There's not one approach."

Benny Leonard to Yuri Foreman, The Man Who Beat the Man

Yesterday, I posted a connection between Yuri Foreman and Benny Leonard through shared opponents. Starting with Foreman, I traced back common opponents until I reach Leonard. Today, starting with Leonard, I tried to see if I could get to Foreman a different way. The caveat for this exercise is that the fighter must have beaten the previous opponent and then lose to the next fighter.

After seven years out of the ring, Benny Leonard made a comeback. His final fight was a third round TKO loss against Jimmy McLarnin on October 7, 1932 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

On May 28, 1934, Jimmy McLarnin lost to Barney Ross by 15-round split decision at the Madison Square Garden Bowl in Queens, New York to relinquish the world welterweight championship. McLarnin won the rematch by split decision at the same venue four months later. Exactly a year after the first fight, at the Polo Grounds in New York, Ross won the title back in third fight by unanimous decision.

Barney Ross lost the welterweight world title to Henry Armstrong by brutal 15-round unanimous decision on May 31, 1938 at the Madison Square Garden Bowl. It would be Ross's last fight.

No longer champion, Henry Armstrong lost to John Thomas on July 4, 1944 by unanimous decision in a ten-rounder at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.

"Gentleman" John Thomas was stopped in the fourth round by Enrique Bolanos at the same venue on September 30, 1947. It was Thomas's last fight.

On January 4, 1952, Enrique Bolanos dropped a ten-rounder by unanimous decision to Chico Vejar. The fight took place at Madison Square Garden.

Chico Vejar lost to future Hall of Famer Luis Rodriguez on March 2, 1960 at the Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida. Rodriguez won a ten-round unanimous decision.

In his second to last fight, Luis Rodriguez dropped a ten-round split decision to Mike Lankester on March 16, 1970 at the Seattle Center Arena, in Seattle, Washington.

On October 21, 1975, Mike Lankester lost by second round KO to 1972 Olympic gold medalist Sugar Ray Seales at the same venue. 

Sugar Ray Seales lost to Dwight Davison by tenth round TKO on May 23, 1980 at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan.

On April 4, 1986, Dwight Davison lost a six-rounder on points to Alphonso Bailey at Caesars Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Alphonso Bailey lost his final fight by TKO in the first round to Julio Cesar Vasquez on November 24, 1990 at Torrequebrada Hotel & Casino in Benalmadena Spain.

Julio Cesar Vasquez was disqualified in the sixth round of his fight against Verno Phillips on June 13, 1991 in Campo Universitario de Desportes in Santa Fe, Argentina.

On September 7, 2001, Verno Phillips dropped a unanimous decision in a ten-rounder at the Dakota Magic Casino in North Dakota.

Kassim Ouma, who has fought twice this year, lost a split decision in a ten-round affair against Saul Roman at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on November 2, 2007.

On April 3, 2008 at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn, New York, Saul Roman lost a ten-rounder by unanimous decision to Yuri Foreman. Foreman retained his NABF super welterweight belt.
Saul Roman
Yuri Foreman

From Yuri Foreman to Benny Leonard, Down the BoxRec Rabbit Hole

Many of you may know what going down the BoxRec rabbit hole means. For those who don't, check out a fighter's ledger and click on an interesting or vaguely familiar looking opponent. Repeat for the next hour or so, and you're firmly inside the BoxRec rabbit hole.

While burrowing one day, a question occurred to me: Is there a link between Yuri Foreman, the most recent Jewish male world champ who last fought in 2021, and Benny Leonard, often regarded as the best Jewish boxer ever? In other words, if I click on a Yuri Foreman opponent- say Anthony Ivory- and then an opponent of  Ivory's and so on, will I eventually reach Benny Leonard?

The answer is yes. In fact, while it's not exactly easy, there are many ways to get from Foreman to Leonard, which shows how connected boxers are through the ages. Below is one way they're linked. This one features many club fighters in the Midwest of the U.S., a brief stop in Canada, and a trip down south during Jim Crow. I tried one line that included Jewish boxers Saoul Mamby and Felix Said Brami (they both fought the Guyanese Ghanaian, Ivelaw Eastman), but I wound up in Spain during Benny Leonard's era with no way to get back to the States.

Below are the fights that link Yuri Foreman and Benny Leonard. The date (U.S. form), the records at the time of the fight, the result, the weight class, and the location are listed. Below the fight is a brief summary of the opponent with years active, final record, and some notes about them. At the very bottom is a list of all the fights included.

01-16-2004, Yuri Foreman (12-0) vs. Anthony Ivory (29-65-5), Foreman UD 6 (60-54 x3), (jr middle) Minneapolis, MN.
Anthony Ivory: 1989-2006 (32-78-6) From Chicago and nicknamed Poison, Ivory fought many notable opponents including: Simon Brown, Winky Wright (twice), Mikkel Kessler, and Kelly Pavlik to name a few.

11-29-1991, Anthony Ivory (8-7-1) vs. Jake Torrance (21-49-1), Ivory Pts 6, (middle) New Munster, WS.
Jake Torrance: 1980-2000 (22-79-2) From Indiana, he fought Ivory again in 1994 and lost by SD. He was later the referee for two of Ivory's fights. Torrance fought Buddy McGirt, Julian Jackson, Donald Curry

09-22-1980, Jake Torrance (0-0) vs. Warren Thunder (9-6-1), Torrance TKO 3, (jr middle) Chicago, Il.
Warren Thunder: 1977-1980 (9-7-1) A Native American boxer from Chicago.

05-22-1978, Warren Thunder (2-2) vs. Bobby Crawford (5-30-2), Thunder TKO 3, (jr middle) Chicago, Il.
Bobby Crawford: 1968-1982 (5-33-2) From Chicago, he lost to Floyd Mayweather Sr. after the Thunder fight.

04-11-1973, Bobby Crawford (1-9) vs. Billy Goodwin (3-11-2), Goodwin Pts 6, (jr. middle) Chicago, Il.
Billy Goodwin: 1970-1982 (13-35-2) From Milwaukee, Goodwin beat Crawford three times, all in 1973, the last two by KO. During his career, Goodwin lost to Tommy Hearns and Jewish boxer Bruce "The Mouse" Strauss.

04-14-1970, Billy Goodwin (0-0) vs. Columbus Lloyd (5-7-1), Lloyd Pts 4, (middle) Milwaukee, WS.
Columbus Lloyd: 1968-1983 (8-13-2) From Indianapolis, Lloyd was 6'2" and had a six-year layoff from '75-'81.

04-20-1970, Columbus Lloyd (6-7-1) vs. Garry Broughton (11-18-2), Broughton UD 8, (lght hvy) Windsor, ON, CA.
Garry Broughton: 1964-1980 (30-45-5) Born in England and based in Canada, Broughton once fought Boogaloo Watts in Philly.

01-17-1966, Garry Broughton (2-2-1) vs. Carl Jordan (9-16-2), Broughton UD 6, (middle) Toronto, ON, CA.
Carl Jordan: 1958-1968 (13-27-4) From Pittsburgh, Jordan fought and lost to Broughton twice. Jordan once drew with Jewish boxer, promoter, and matchmaker Don Elbaum.

04-28-1958, Carl Jordan (1-0) vs. Willie Epps (5-12), Jordan Pts 4, (middle) Glassport, PA.
Willie Epps: 1951-1960 (7-20) From Ohio.

01-03-1957, Willie Epps vs. Al Marotti (31-21-8), Marotti UD 10, (welter) Steubenville, OH.
Al Marotti: 1945-1958 (32-24-8) From Salt Lake City.

09-02-1946 Al Marotti vs. Jackie Armitage (19-12-3), Armitage KO 3, (welter) Aliquippa, PA.
Jackie Armitage: 1942-1949 (33-22-3) From Pennsylvania.

06-08-1942 Jackie Armitage (0-0) vs. Marcus Lockman (10-8-1), Lockman SD 4, (welter) Millvale, PA.
Marcus Lockman: 1941-1946 (31-12-3) Nicknamed "Kid Chicken," Lockman was born in Virginia and based in Pittsburgh.

02-20-1941 Marcus Lockman (0-1) vs. Jimmy Harper (5-16), Harper Pts 6, (welter) Pittsburgh, PA.
Jimmy Harper: 1935-1941 (6-16) From Detroit.

11-08-1937 Jimmy Harper (4-5) vs. Young Ford Munger (29-6-6), Harper TKO 3, (welter) Detroit, MI
Young Ford Munger: 1929-1937 (29-7-6) Born in Michigan and based in Florida, his dad was also a pro boxer.

12-17-1929 Young Ford Munger (1-0) vs. Norman Moran (5-18-2), Munger Pts 4, (welter) St. Petersburg, FL.
Norman Moran: 1924-1929, (5-19-2), From Mississippi.

04-01-1926 Norman Moran vs. Tut Seymour (16-9-4), Tut Pts 10, (middle) Gulfport, MS.
Tut Seymour: 1923-1931 (25-34-12), From Mississippi, Seymour fought Moran three times, losing the first two. He became a criminal after his pro career was over.

05-12-1925 Tut Seymour (11-5-2) vs. Battling Budd (37-26-30), Tut Pts 10, (welter) Biloxi, MS.
Battling Budd: 1914-1929 (37-28-31) From Atlanta, later became a ref and a judge. Budd fought Hall of Famer Young Stribling six times and went 2-1-3 including one win by way of unofficial newspaper decision.

10-13-1922 Battling Budd (31-9-18) vs. Sailor Friedman (41-15-8), Friedman Pts 8, (welter) Nashville, TN.
Sailor Friedman: 1916-1928 (50-43-6) A Jewish boxer born in Brooklyn and based in Philadelphia, Friedman fought man of the top lightweights of his era including Joe Dundee, Charley White, Ray Mitchell, and Lew Tendler (five times). On November 22, 1921, he faced world lightweight world champion Benny Leonard in an over-the-weight no-decision bout in Philadelphia, PA. Leonard was 138.8 pounds and Friedman was 140. The papers felt Benny Leonard deserved the victory in the eight 


2004 Yuri Foreman-Anthony Ivory
1991 Anthony Ivory-Jake Torrance
1978 Warren Thunder-Bobby Crawford
1973 Bobby Crawford-Billy Goodwin (three)
1970 Billy Goodwin-Columbus Lloyd
1970 Columbus Lloyd-Garry Broughton
1966 Garry Broughton-Carl Jordan
1958 Carl Jordan-Willie Epps
1957 Willie Epps-Al Marotti
1946 Al Marotti-Jackie Armitage
1942 Jackie Armitage-Marcus Lockman
1941 Marcus-Lockman-Jimmy Harper
1937 Jimmy Harper-Young Ford
1929 Young Ford-Norman Moran
1926 Norman Moran-Tut Seymour
1925 Tut Seymour-Battling Budd
1922 Battling Budd-Sailor Friedman
1921 Sailor Friedman-Benny Leonard

News Update

A couple of bits of general news about Jewish boxers from this weekend.

*****

Yuri Foreman was inducted in the Jewish Sports Heritage Association Hall of Fame in Lawrence, New York. Boyd Melson was there to support Yuri, the first ever Israeli world champion. Foreman, the best Jewish boxer of the 21st century, was followed by a film crew for an upcoming documentary about his life called Lion of Zion.

Foreman then spoke at the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Jewish boxers Al Singer, Solly Krieger, and Herbie Kronowitz were all posthumously inducted today.

Foreman, who hopes to make a comeback soon, should be a shoe-in for New York State Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible. Singer and Krieger have already been inducted to the latter.

*****

Dr. Stefi Cohen sat near the ring for yesterday's incredible fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano for the legitimate lightweight championship of the world. The atmosphere in Madison Square Garden was electric as Taylor and Serrano battled in a fight for the ages.

"What a war!" Cohen declared after the fight. Taylor took a close split decision victory to retain the lightweight title. Cohen is tentatively scheduled to fight next on May 14.

The Different Types of Boxing Gloves

Boxing gloves are an important and yet overlooked aspect of the sport. Boxers must consider many different features of a glove in order to choose the right one for them. Wrist support, knuckle support, room in the hand compartment, and design are a few of the more important factors. One significant similarity, however, is the weight of the glove. Typically, welterweights and lighter fight with eight ounce gloves while junior middleweights and above wear ten ounce gloves.

Though most brands offer different types of gloves, they tend to get associated with a certain style. "Reyes is more of a puncher's glove, and Everlast is more of a boxer's glove," says former undisputed world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

Reyes was founded in Mexico City, Mexico in 1945. Its founder, Claudio Reyes, was an innovator. His product soon gained a reputation as a puncher's glove. “The Reyes boxing gloves are what you use if you want to knock people out,” claims  Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, whose most famous charge, Manny Pacquiao, wore Reyes gloves. 

Writer David Walker explains, "The Reyes glove is known as 'a puncher’s glove' because it has a lightweight feel, a slimmer profile and, most importantly, an inner layer of horsehair padding that tends to flatten down and harden over the course of a fight."

Floyd Mayweather Jr. used Reyes gloves early in his pro career but developed hand problems and switched brands. Hand injuries are a major concern for boxers as former pro Boyd Melson well knows.

"Personally, I liked having a good amount of padding on my knuckles. You’re going to hurt your knuckles, so it’s important to keep them as protected as you can!" says Melson, who wore Everlast gloves in the ring.

Manny Pacquiao wore Reyes gloves

Founded in the Bronx, New York in the early 1910s by Jacob Golomb, the Jewish son of an immigrant tailor, Everlast was initially devoted to swimwear. As the story goes, Golomb provided a down-and-out Jack Dempsey with boxing equipment. In return, Dempsey wore Everlast gloves when he destroyed Jess Willard to win the world heavyweight championship in 1919, and the brand took off.

The great Jewish world lightweight champion Benny Leonard not only wore Everlast, but played an advisory role in the company. More recent Jewish fighters (former WBA world junior middleweight champion) Yuri Foreman and (WBF world junior welterweight champion) Dmitriy Salita wore Everlast gloves, too. While Dempsey was more of a brawler, Leonard, Foreman, and Salita were technically sound boxers to varying degrees.

Everlast is known as a boxer's glove because of the foam padding on the knuckles which is meant to protect them at the expense of power. However, Everlast does sell a puncher's glove called the MX, which uses horsehair as padding.

Cletus Seldin, a massive puncher, has also worn Everlast in several of his fights. Clearly, the gloves have not hindered his knockout power. The Hebrew Hammer has also worn Grant gloves, going back-and-forth between the two types during his career.

Benny Leonard wore Everlast gloves

Grant was founded in 1995 in New York and the gloves are made in Mexico. They are know for their high quality materials. After using Reyes gloves, Floyd Mayweather Jr. moved over to Grant and helped the popularity of the company soar.  Gennady "GGG" is another popular figure who punches with Grant.

Grant gloves are known to protect a boxer's hands but don't take away as much power as some brands. The gloves fit snug and lock in the hand and wrist in a straight line offering wrist protection. Padding around the wrist only enhances the protection. "Every fighter should be fighting in Grant boxing gloves," says Mayweather. "The gloves are extremely comfortable."

Floyd Mayweather Jr. switched to Grant gloves midcareer

Over in the United Kingdom, Lonsdale, founded in 1960 in London, soon developed a
positive reputation. Celebrities hoped to be seen in their clothing. Former pro boxer Tony Milch remembers going with his stepdad to the Lonsdale store on Beak Street in London's shopping hub known as Covent Gardens when he just started boxing. "It was a real old school boxing shop," he recalls fondly. "The original Lonsdale was the best."

In the early 2000s, neo-Nazis throughout Europe began proudly displaying Lonsdale gear. The term "Lonsdale youth" became synonymous with teens who espoused extreme right wing views. These neo-Nazis wore bomber jackets over their Lonsdale shirts, which coincidentally have the letters "nsda" which almost amounts to the initials of Adolph Hitler's Nazi party (NSDAP). Bizarre as that might be, it signified a major problem for Lonsdale, who actively combatted the unwitting association with neo-Nazis by initiating an anti-racist campaign.

Around the same time, in 2002, Sports Direct, now known as the Frasers Group, bought out Lonsdale, just as they would acquire Everlast five years later. The quality of the gloves have worsened since. Tony Milch blames the gloves for a broken right hand and bursitis early in his pro career. "They are not the best quality," Milch says of Lonsdale, "The brand changed and sold out."

Milch, the head of the Gloves and Doves initiative which promotes peace in the Middle East through boxing, prefers Reyes and Winning gloves.

Tony Milch soured on Lonsdale gloves (Marc Morris)

Reyes and Winning are on the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of style, but both are known for superior quality. While Reyes are puncher's gloves, Winning gloves are often refer to as pillows.

Winning was founded in 1937 in Japan, around the height of its empire. The gloves are of high quality and very expensive. They are protective of a boxer's knuckles and wrists. Some argue that the hand compartment is too snug.

Many boxers, including Floyd Mayweather Jr., train with Winning gloves. They're usually not used in competition because it's difficult to generate power due to the high-level of synthetic padding. However, "The Monster," Naoya Inoue, the most feared bantamweight in the world and a top ten pound-for-pound fighter with 19 KOs in his 22 bouts, fights with Winning gloves. It's a testament to Inoue's punching power that he's able to score so many knockouts with such pillowy gloves.

Naoya Inoue uses Winning gloves

While Winning is generally regarded as the best gloves to protect one's hands, Rival gloves are usually thought of as the coolest looking. Former trainer and current cutman Russ Anber founded the company in Montreal, Canada in 2003. He initiated several design changes, including creating a shorter body of the glove and longer cuff so that the laces are tied on the boxer's wrist. The gloves also have an angular lace track to promote increased wrist support.

Vasiliy Lomachenko and Olexandr Usyk, two of the ten best boxers in the world, wear Rival in the ring. Anber serves as cutman to both fighters. Isaac Chilemba, a contender at super middleweight and light heavyweight for many years, often wears Rival gloves. In fact, his first fight against Tony Bellew on March 30, 2013 was the first time two competing boxers wore Rival gloves in a professional fight outside of Canada.

Isaac Chilemba wears Rival gloves

These are just a few of the more noteworthy brands that sell boxing gloves. In addition to Leone (from Italy), Venum (from France), Title, and Hayabusa, there are many more, each with their own unique makeup. For fans who don't already, be sure to note the boxers' gloves. They can give a window into a fighter's mentality.

Yuri Foreman Reflects on His Career So Far

Rabbi Yuri Foreman is still an active boxer and his goal is to fight for the title, but he was kind enough to reflect on his career so far with The Jewish Boxing Blog. The 41 year former world champion's many great accomplishments make him the best Jewish boxer of this century.

Foreman's proudest moment in professional boxing was winning the WBA world junior middleweight title from Daniel Santos on November 14, 2009. "It was my proudest moment because I became the first Israeli world champion." It was also a time for the Brooklyn-resident to reflect on how far he had come and just how improbable his journey had been.

"I came from a city in the Soviet Union- it's now in Belarus- that has maybe one tenth of the people that live in Brooklyn. I came from a little place and became a world champion," Foreman says proudly. "If you put all your effort into something, you can do it."

His biggest disappointment was each of his four losses. "I can't grade them and say which one is worse." His losses came against Miguel Cotto, Pawel Wolak, Erislandy Lara, and Jimmy Williams. He hints at issues in preparation against Lara but generally makes no excuses. Against Cotto, he tore his ACL in the middle of the fight.  "I wish my knee held up," is all he says of that injury. He came back just nine months later to face Wolak. And against Williams, he had recovered from the first strain of covid-19 just three months before the fight.

Foreman names Cotto, a Hall of Famer he greatly respects, as the best opponent he has faced so far. "He's the most sophisticated. He has heart, and he's smart," Foreman says. Cotto is sophisticated in the ring because he "concealed his intentions."

"I landed a one-two in about the third round," Yuri, who has never gone back and watched the fight, remembers. "It landed flush. I thought I hurt him. He buckled a little bit. But he kept coming forward. He was smart. He didn't go backwards but was in attack. He concealed that he was hurt. I miscalculated."

The hardest puncher Yuri faced was a bit of a surprise: Daniel Santos. In winning the title from Santos, Foreman knocked down the champ twice. After the weigh-in for the 154 pound title, Santos put on an extra 19 pounds and entered the ring at 173, a number Foreman accurately remembers twelve and a half years later.

"Punches you don't see hurt," Foreman explains. "Punches you see, you can withstand. I could see the punches from Santos, but they were still paralyzing. He hit very hard."

As for the best opponent in terms of technical boxing ability, Foreman cites Erislandy Lara. Yuri dealt with personal problems in the lead-up to the 2017 fight against the Cuban great. "I wasn't the same as when I was getting ready for Cotto and Santos," he says.  Foreman, who was 37 at the time of the fight, wishes he was in his prime at the time because he would have loved to "match up our different schools of boxing."

Foreman jokes that not too many fans would have appreciated the boxer vs. boxer matchup between the men had Yuri been in his prime. He astutely notes that the Arturo Gatti-Mickey Ward trilogy of the early 2000s shifted the fans away from enjoying good technical boxing and more for the blood and guts style of fighting.

With that shift away from the sweet science, younger fans may appreciate Yuri's remarkable ability and amazing career less and less. Let's hope that's not the case.

Interview with Yuri Foreman: The Future

Rabbi Yuri Foreman is looking to fight again this spring. The 41-year old former world champion cites his "desire to be on top" as motivation to continue his amazing career. Foreman was gracious enough to take the time to speak with The Jewish Boxing Blog in a wide-ranging interview. This article will focus on his future in the ring. His wife Shoshana Foreman, who serves as his manager, hopes to announce a fight date relatively soon.

While Foreman has had several long layoffs during his twenty-year professional boxing career, he's quick to state, "I never left boxing. I'm always in shape." It's not hard to believe him; Yuri has remained in the same weight class, the junior middleweight division, for his entire career. Yuri even considered trying to move down and make 147 for his next fight!

Foreman always stays active. He doesn't drink, smoke, or do drugs. He closely monitors his running distance and pace. "I run a lot," he says. "I don't really like to run, but it's probably the best exercise to stay in shape. It not only benefits you physically, but it strengthens your mind."

While training for a fight, he focuses on repetition, particularly when shadow boxing and doing bag work. He always uses maximum effort from the start and doesn't ease into any exercise. "Fighters get knocked out in the first round. You have to go hard from the beginning," he says.

These days, many young fighters like to show videos on social media of impressive pad work with their coaches. Foreman says, "Everyone's different. There's not one approach. But Russian trainers told me, 'Don't embrace the pads,' when I was young. It messes up distance. Your perception of distance is very important in boxing." Yuri, who grew up in the Soviet Union, likes doing pad work now though, because it challenges his stamina.

As a boxer who depends on speed, rhythm, and timing, the long layoffs have- rather unexpectedly- not hurt Foreman's comeback performances. He relies on "mobility, movement, and fitness" and since he is always in shape, he doesn't experience the same ring rust as some others have. Though some may see him as an older fighter, he intends to fight the same way as always.

"Money is not driving me," Foreman says of his desire to continue his career. "If money were the issue, I would go do something else." His goal is not to fight once or twice more, but to fight for the title. "I'm always pushing myself. I'm always challenging myself."

The words of his retired coach Joe Grier still echo in his head, "You have to try to be better than you were before. If you try to be the same as you were, it's time to retire."

Clearly, Yuri still has the hunger to succeed in the ring.

2021 Year in Review in Jewish Boxing

For the second year in a row, covid-19 dominated the storyline. Fighters contracted the virus, fights were canceled or postponed, and a new variant threatens to continue the trend into 2022. In addition, Zachary Wohlman tragically passed away in February.

Despite the pandemic, some Jewish boxers were able to fight this past year. The biggest win came in October when Cletus Seldin knocked out William Silva in the seventh round of their fight in Brooklyn. One of the alphabet organizations ranks the 35-year-old Seldin in their top ten in the junior welterweight division. The New Yorker seeks a big fight in 2022.

Other world class competitors, Yuri Foreman and Isaac Chilemba, weren't able to secure wins this year. Foreman dropped a majority decision to Jimmy Williams in June after testing positive for covid-19 in March. Chilemba had a controversial draw with Fedor Chudinov in February and a unanimous decision loss to Pavel Silyagin in November. Chilemba called Silyagin a future world champion.

David Alaverdian and Shawn Sarembock both went 3-0 in 2021. Alaverdian, a flyweight, is 5-0 with 4 KOs. Sarembock, a junior middleweight, is 7-0 with 7 KOs. Miroslav Kapuler, a junior middleweight, won two fights in 2021 to improve his record to 3-0 with one KO. Mor Oknin won his debut in April.

Former two-division world champion Carolina Duer and powerlifting world record holder Dr. Stefi Cohen also had a successful year in the ring. At the age of 43, Duer won a decision over Silvia Fernanda Zacarias in August. Cohen has started her career 1-0-1. She stopped Haydee Zapa in the third round of their fight in the Dominican Republic in June. Cohen fought Marcela Nieto to a draw in September.

Igor Lazarev was 1-1, Benny Sinakin went 0-1, and Nikita Basin was stopped in both of his bouts after a twenty-month layoff.

John Jarrett's The Great Benny Leonard, Jeffrey Sussman's Holocaust Fighters, and J. Russell Peltz's Thirty Dollars and a Cut Eye were all published in 2021.

A big thank you to everyone who followed The Jewish Boxing Blog this year and a special thank you to those who offered their support on BuyMeACoffee.com. Stay tuned for big things in 2022!

Foreman Says Show Must Go On

In a social media post, Rabbi Yuri Foreman said that during training runs the last couple of days, "All I hear in my mind is... 'The show must go on!' That's it."

Foreman, the best Jewish boxer of the 21st century, is 35-4 with 10 KOs. The 40-year old is a former junior middleweight champion, the first Israeli world titlist. After nearly four years out of the ring, Foreman defeated Jeremy Ramos by decision last December. He was scheduled to fight Jimmy "Quiet Storm" Williams in March, but he experienced covid-like symptoms just prior to the fight and ultimately tested positive for the virus.

Last month Foreman took on Williams in Atlanta. The Brooklyn-based fighter lost the contest by split decision. Before the fight, Foreman told Michael Woods of The Ring, "I'm good. I'm recovered [from covid-19]." He hasn't used the virus as an excuse for his narrow defeat to Williams, but it is a respiratory condition and Foreman relies on constant movement in the ring. The long term of effects of the virus seem to vary from person to person.

During his nearly 20-year pro career, Yuri has fought the likes of the legendary Miguel Cotto, a top pound-for-pound champ in Erislandy Lara, and world title belt-holders Daniel Santos and Cornelius Bundrage, to name a few.

Successful Night for Gloves and Doves in Israel

Gloves and Doves, a program run by former professional boxer Tony Milch that promotes peace and coexistence in the Middle East, hosted a successful night of boxing in Isfiya, Israel this past evening. Former world champion Rabbi Yuri Foreman along with former world title challenger and current promoter Dmitriy Salita both sent their support for the event.

A current pro, Yotham Shalom, boxed in a three round exhibition while another active boxer Igor Lazarev refereed. Sagiv Ismailov, who is 2-0 as a pro, also laced up the gloves. Members of the Israeli national amateur boxing team also showcased their skills in the ring. They are of different backgrounds and religions but represent one country. The featured attraction of the evening was Adham Kayouf, a Druze fighter from Isfiya.

Gloves and Doves is an endeavor worthy of support regardless of one's politics. Peace benefits us all and while sports may not work miracles, it can create progress. Ping-pong diplomacy helped thaw relations between China and the United States during the 1970s ultimately leading towards an economic relationship between the two nations. Cricket has helped direct tensions between India and Pakistan to the pitch instead of the battlefield. And athletes such as Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, and Bill Russell helped bridge the racial divide in the United States and set the stage for increasing integration.

With the recent deadly conflict in Israel, an initiative that promotes peace and coexistence in the Middle East is needed now more than ever. Boxing is an apt avenue to create progress towards that goal. Boxers pound each other during the fight and yet often form a lifelong friendships after the final bell has rung. To donate visit their crowdfunding page and follow Gloves and Doves on Instagram. A replay of the event can be watched here.

David Kaminsky Training Rapper Blueface Bleedem

Super middleweight David Kaminsky is training rapper Blueface Bleedem for a bare knuckle boxing match on July 23. Blueface faces a TikTok comedian named Kane Trujillo. While this match won't be the reincarnation of Hagler-Hearns, we cannot blame Kaminsky for accepting this celebrity boxing assignment. Enhanced notoriety for Kaminsky Boxing Gym and beefing up his Venmo make it well worth it.

Blueface, born Johnathan Porter, is a rapper known for his offbeat rhymes primarily about his life in a gang. Porter played college football but had no formal training in combat sports before meeting Kaminsky.

Those who decry the increasing prevalence of celebrity pugilists such as Blueface as bad for boxing miss the point. That there is an audience willing to watch celebrity boxing matches shows the power of the sport. No one wants to watch Logan Paul or his brother Jake play tennis or basketball. They'll pay to witness the Pauls lace up the gloves, though.
                               
Boxing at its most exhilarating can be a thrilling action movie. The aforementioned Hagler-Hearns, Chavez-Taylor, Corrales-Castillo, or Ward-Gatti all fall into this category. The difference between an action movie and boxing is that in boxing, the protagonist doesn't reveal himself until the end. The plot is rarely predictable. The action is spontaneous and unscripted.

At its most beautiful, boxing can also take the form of artwork. The masterful performances of Floyd Mayweather, Roy Jones, and Pernell Whitaker fall into this category. Their hit-and-not-get-hit styles were the manly art of self-defense personified.

Boxing is such a special sport, spectators will even watch a rapper fight a comedian. But the rise of celebrity prizefights exposes the failure of the business of boxing. While the combination of violence and artistry is at the heart of boxing's appeal, its failure to market its dedicated, yet anonymous, fighters is at the core of its shortcomings. Kids from hardscrabble beginnings, who toil in sweaty gyms for countless years dreaming of a world title, are too often left behind.

Actual professional boxers almost unfailingly possess interesting backstories. Many, if not most, have lived incredible lives. Yuri Foreman, for example, was twice an immigrant before winning a world title, the first Israeli to do so, and then he became a rabbi. Yet, for whatever reason, their stories aren't told in a way that captivates the audience in the same manner as these celebrity YouTubers and TikTokers.

Mayweather's career shines light on the road ahead. He crept into the minds of casual boxing fans with a supremely-skilled safety-first style. He managed to promote himself into hundreds of millions of dollars while leaving the bloodthirsty unquenched. The problem is Mayweather and the industry were unable to raise the rest of the business.

The audience needs to be better educated about the sport as well. Knowledgeable boxing fans would rather watch the best fight than novices awkwardly launch wide slaps. Unfortunately, unknowledgeable fans far outnumber those in the know.

The celebrity boxers can't be blamed for trying to cash in on their fleeting fame. They owe nothing to boxing. Their desire to take up the sport, and for fans to watch them, confirms boxing's allure. But the popularity of celebrity boxing reveals the failure of the promoters, the networks, and us, the writers, to connect the David Kaminskys of the boxing world with the audience.

Foreman Drops Unanimous Decision

Rabbi Yuri Foreman lost to Jimmy Williams by majority decision at the Buckhead Fight Club in Atlanta, Georgia. After punctuating the first round with a short right cross that wobbled Williams, Foreman was cut by his hairline in the third round. In the sixth, Williams knocked down Yuri twice.

Two judges scored the bout 77-73 for Williams while the third judge had the fight even at 75. Foreman, who tested positive for covid-19 in March falls to 35-4 with 10 KOs. Williams improves to 18-5-2 with 6 KOs.

Weights for Foreman-Williams, Lazarev-Col

Two Jewish boxers are fighting tomorrow, Saturday, June 19. Rabbi Yuri Foreman (35-3, 10 KOs) faces Jimmy Williams (17-5-2, 6 KOs) at the Buckhead Fight Club in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Both Foreman and Williams weighed in at 153.6 pounds. BoxRec has this junior middleweight bout listed as an eight-rounder. For more on this fight, check out Foreman to Face Jimmy Williams on June 19.

Igor Lazarev (7-1, 3 KOs) takes on Marius Col (2-3) at the International Hotel Casino and Tower Suites in Varna, Bulgaria. Lazarev weighed in at 134.9 pounds while Col came in at 133.4 pounds. BoxRec lists this lightweight fight as a six-rounder. For more on this fight check out Lazarev to Face Col on June 19.

Ineffective Aggression

Aggression seems to be a defining characteristic of the modern United States. Today in America, you can get yelled at for wearing a mask in a crowded indoor venue, or you could receive a judgmental glare for not wearing a mask while attempting to enjoy some fresh air and solitude. The person yelling or glaring at you most likely cares not a whit for the scientific expertise of any notable independent virologists. And if, for some reason, a boxing judge scored your interaction, especially one from Texas, you would almost certainly receive nine points for the round regardless of any salient counterpoints you may have made.

Too often nuance is disregarded in favor of brute force these days. In the ring, merely throwing punches irrespective of whether your forays land can be enough to convince a judge you've made an articulate case to win the round. Loudmouths fill our screens and grab our attention far more than calculated examinations of policy or pugilism.

This is the context in which Yuri Foreman attempts his comeback. A former world champion and the greatest Jewish boxer of his his generation, Foreman is a ballet dancer in the ring, gracefully improvising in timely fashion. Instead of pliés, he punches. But he glides on his toes just the same.

The question is not whether, at 40, Yuri is too old to make noise in the 154 pound division. His skills, speed, and stamina remain intact. The question is whether the game has passed him by. He is James Baldwin, and boxing is Sean Hannity. Yuri's style requires a literary eye for the intricacies and subtleties that distinguish clean punching from ineffective aggression. Simply because an opponent is moving forward in a fight does not mean he isn't suffering for his ambition.

Foreman is 25-0 in fights that reach the final bell. Twenty four of those decisions came in 2015 or earlier. In his first fight in nearly four years, Foreman outboxed Jeremy Ramos over eight rounds. In an ominous omen, the Kentucky judges, channeling their Texas brethren, impossibly scored the bout a split decision. Two judges misunderstood their task and declared the comeback kid a winner by two measly points. The third astonishingly believed Ramos deserved a majority of the rounds.

I remember visiting a  friend of mine several years ago and trying to impress him with my musical taste. While sitting in the passenger seat of his car, I pretentiously popped in a Coltrane CD. After listening for a few minutes, my friend pressed the button to change the track. "I can't take any more of that horn," he declared. I'm no music expert, but my friend showed the same mindset it takes for a judge to score that fight for Ramos over Foreman last December.

Yuri's other job is a rabbi. A successful rabbi, of course, must be philosophical and thoughtful. They must listen and examine. When they speak, it is usually from a place of intense consideration. Most rabbis don't spew political catchphrases from the small end of a bullhorn. They wrestle with nuance. Yuri's rabbinical work and his form of boxing go hand-in-hand.

The beauty of Rabbi Foreman's  hit-and-don't-get-hit style of boxing is going the way of intelligent good-faith debate in the United States. In boxing, wild swings that end on elbows are given more credence than a well-timed jab that snaps in a scoring position. This shift will only serve to hurt the sport just as the lack of informed political conversation will weaken American democracy.

If we glorify ineffective aggression in boxing or political discourse, we begin to mistake fiction for fact. Whether it's determining if a punch landed or understanding the potency of covid-19 or determining exactly what happened on January 6 at the Capitol, some of us have lost the ability to do just that, separate fact from fiction. For the sake of Yuri Foreman's comeback, and the rest of us, let's hope more and more folks can tell the difference.

Foreman to Face Jimmy Williams on June 19

Rabbi Yuri Foreman is slated to battle Jimmy "Quiet Storm" Williams at Buckhead Fight Club in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on June 19. Foreman had been ready to fight Williams on March 7 in Louisville, Kentucky, but he came down with covid-19 and had to pull out.

Foreman (35-3, 10 KOs) has since recovered from the virus. Williams (17-5-2 6, KOs) earned a first round stoppage victory in a tune-up fight against Clifford McPherson on April 17.

As mentioned in The JBB's preview of this fight, Williams had been on a bit of of a skid leading up to their scheduled fight in March. The 34 year old Quiet Storm had been 0-4-1 in his last five before the first round stoppage of McPherson. Three of those loses were to good opponents: Mark DeLuca, Abel Ramos, and Brandun Lee. But one loss and the draw were to journeymen.

Foreman-Williams is scheduled for ten rounds at the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds.

Schedule Update

Three Jewish boxers are tentatively scheduled to fight within the next two months. Rabbi Yuri Foreman, David Alaverdian, and David Kaminsky all have separate bouts set up.

Junior middleweight Foreman is scheduled to fight on June 19 at Buckhead Fight Club in Atlanta, Georgia, according to BoxRec. A former world champion, Foreman's record stands at 35-3 with 10 KOs. He defeated Jeremey Ramos by decision last December 5. That was Yuri's first fight in nearly four years. He was also ready to take on Jimmy Williams in March, but he became ill the night before the fight. His team pulled him out of the contest as a precautionary measure. As it turned out, Foreman had contracted covid-19, and entered into quarantine immediately upon returning home.

Alaverdian is a 3-0 super flyweight with 2 KOs. He mentioned on his Instagram page that he was preparing for a fight in Mexico on May 7. He last fought four weeks ago, a unanimous decision victory over Daniel Pacheco.

David Kaminsky announced on Instagram that he is scheduled to fight on June 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout will be televised on ESPN+. Junior middleweight Kaminsky is 6-1 with 3 KOs. A southpaw, David lost his last fight, a split decision to Clay Collard, on June 18, 2020.