Salita Has New Opponent

Dmitriy Salita, who is promoting and fighting a card scheduled for April 13 at the Oceana Ballroom in Brooklyn, New York, will have a new opponent. Salita is now penciled in to face Ronnie Warrior Jr.

Salita (32-1-1, 17 KOs) was originally scheduled to face Jermaine White. White's replacement, Warrior (13-4-1, 4 KOs), is cut from the same mold. Warrior is a journeyman who has built up a record against weak foes and lost when battling tougher competition. Warrior is older at 34 years old, but has fought more recently than White has. Warrior was stopped in the third round last December against Kevin Bizier.

Warrior has historically been the heavier man than Salita. The Oklahoma native is also a southpaw. Regardless, Salita is the prohibitive favorite. The bout is scheduled for eight rounds.

Huck-Nakash Preview

Ran "Sweet Dreams" Nakash takes on Marco "Capt'n" Huck on Saturday for Huck's WBO cruiserweight title. The bout will be held at Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany. It features a contest of two men who are skilled in other combat sports. Huck came up as a kickboxer. Nakash is the chief instructor for the Israeli Defense Force in Krava Maga.

The litany of advantages possessed by Huck (31-1, 23 KOs) is the story heading into this fight. Huck, who has faced the stiffer competition throughout his career, has at least a three and half inch height advantage. Huck is six years younger, yet has more experience inside the ropes, as he has participated in seven more fights than Nakash and nearly 100 more rounds. The fight is being held in Huck's adopted country. The hometown advantage is perceived to be more pronounced in Germany than in other places. And finally, Nakash took this fight on short notice.

Huck is a master of range. He stands up straight and keeps a high guard when his opponent is within striking-distance. He often uses his jab as a range-finder early in the fight. Then, when he has determined distance, he propels forth in a burst of powerful combination punches.

But Huck is a flawed fighter. He is technically poor. The champion thrives when he is on the attack. Nakash must keep the pressure on Huck. The beltholder is not an adept counterpuncher. As long as Nakash is in range and punching, Huck will keep his hands up. This serves two purposes. As long as Huck's hands are up, he can't hit Nakash with a powerful shot. And, with his high guard, Huck's body will be open.

Fortunately for Nakash, his strategy and his strengths match up nicely. Coming forward and delivering body punches are two areas where he excels. Huck's only loss was to Steve Cunningham in 2007. Cunningham is a tall fighter with a tremendous reach, whose strategy was to box. None of that applies to Nakash here. But Cunningham did work the body early and used effective head movement during Huck's bull rushes that inevitably morph into combinations. It is crucial for Nakash to avoid taking the brunt of one of Huck's wild and damaging blows.

Huck's last fight against the shorter Denis Lebedev this past December is more instructive. Lebedev, a southpaw, was able to target Huck's body often, cracking his rib in the fourth. Lebedev, who lost a contentious split-decision, forced Huck on the backfoot in the later rounds. Whichever fighter is moving forward, Huck or Nakash, will give a good indication as to the identity of the eventual victor.

But others have tried to press Huck and failed. Adam Richards did, but Huck was able to keep the Swamp Donkey on the end of his punches about a year ago. Huck faced Brian Minto two months later. Minto came forward the entire fight, but lacked the hand speed, power, and defensive ability to threaten Huck. He also didn't throw enough punches at the champion. Matt Godfrey, who fought Huck last August, gave ground to Huck, who connected in the fifth round with an unruly punch in the middle of a combination, which, of course, was preceded by a bull rush. Godfrey was stopped soon after in the same stanza.

Nakash (25-0, 18 KOs), who has massive muscular legs, will have to bully the bully. Cunningham-Huck was a rough fight. Nakash will need to make this bout rough as well. One issue for Nakash is his weight. He traditionally weighs in over the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds. Last July, after his fight against Victor Barragan, Nakash acknowledged it was an issue, but asserted that he could make the weight, arguing that he had a contract for a higher limit for that contest. Nakash has only fought as many as ten rounds in a fight twice, including his last contest. He admitted that going ten rounds "was hard."

While this is an enormous step up against a gritty, seasoned champion, Nakash does have the game to pull off the big upset. This bout is scheduled for 12 rounds.

Gunn on Huck-Nakash

Ran Nakash, who will challenge Marco Huck in Germany on Saturday for the WBO cruiserweight crown, had been pegged to face Bobby Gunn for more than a year. The two had a somewhat public back-and-forth about fighting one another. They even had a date (February 24) and a venue (Harrah's in Chester, Pennsylvania) before the fight fell through.

Gunn said of Nakash accepting the fight with Huck instead of himself, "This is a business and he made a smart decision." Gunn graciously added, "I don’t think Nakash ran away from our fight because he is going to make a lot of money and has an opportunity to fight for a world title against Huck."

But then Gunn took a shot at Nakash. "Either way, he was going to take his first loss the next time he fought, so you can’t blame him." Perhaps, it's just sour grapes from Gunn, who was stopped in the fourth round of his last fight against Tomasz Adamek for The Ring cruiserweight title.

A Look Back: Morris Reif

In an effort to link the past with the present, The Jewish Boxing Blog will present monthly a short biography of notable former Jewish boxers.

Morris Reif, who turned 88 years old last month, was recently honored by the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame. Reif was a well-regarded boxer in his day, known for his left hook and his knockout power.

Isidore Reif was born on February 16, 1923. Known as Izzy, Reif grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, which was then a tough Jewish neighborhood. Reif began boxing as an amateur at a young age. In those days, the winner of an amateur match would receive a watch and then pawn it for money. This was a practice Reif was able to repeat often.

Reif turned pro at the age of 17 though the legal minimum age to become a professional boxer was 18. In order to get around the law, Reif borrowed the birth certificate of his older brother, Morris, and assumed his name. The new Morris Reif scored a second round knockout in his debut on June 7, 1940.

Reif's career began with a bang. He won his first 18 fights, eleven by knockout. He even had the unique pleasure of knocking out Snow White, or, at least, a boxer by that name. Reif, a southpaw, developed his deadly left hook after breaking his right hand during a fight. That win streak came to an end against Mickey Farber, a quality local Jewish fighter, in 1941. The 5'7" welterweight seemed to have trouble when he faced tougher competition. All of Reif's losses were to fighters with winning records, including Danny Bartfield twice.

By 1945, Reif, nicknamed "The Blonde Bomber," was being touted as the next Bummy Davis. In fact, according to Ron Ross, the two men, who had sparred together, were apparently training for one another when Davis was tragically shot and killed during a robbery. The following year, Reif fought Beau Jack, one of the greatest fighters of all time. Jack had passed the lightweight title back and forth with Bob Montgomery during their series of bouts, the last being in March of 1944, a fight which Jack lost. Five months later, he beat Montgomery in a higher weight class. Two fights later, Jack faced Reif.

Reif was knocked out in the fourth round against the legendary foe. The Brooklynite came back to win his next seven contests, six by knockout. Reif next lost three in a row and his career was soon over, his last fight taking place on January 6, 1950. With the help of legendary trainer Charley Goldman, Reif amassed a career record of 51-12-1 with 34 KOs. Reif became friends with Rocky Marciano, who was also trained by Goldman.

Reif and his wife Beverly had three children. After he retired from the ring, Morris trained youngsters in boxing in addition to working in a variety of fields. He now resides in Florida.

Bibliography
Lilly, Christina. "Former boxer, 88, honored by Hall of Fame." Sun Sentinal. February 24, 2011.
Ross, Ron. Bummy David vs. Murder, Inc.: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Mafia and an Ill-fated Prizefighter. 2003.