Boxing Brings People Together

Last night  Mikhael Ostroumov was in Bălţi, Moldova to cheer on two teammates from his boxing club located in Afula, Israel. In one fight, Yosef Ktzraui, an Arab Israeli, stopped Turac Icoz of Turkey. Ktzraui was a bit wild and occasionally fought with his hands down, but he battled like a bulldozer as he overwhelmed his more experienced opponent. In another fight, Khalil Jabarin, another Arab Israeli, also had his hand raised after facing Mucahit Rahman Birsan of Turkey. After the matches, Mor Oknin voiced his support for the Israelis online.

Ktzraui and Jabarin both made their debuts on a card promoted by Evgheni Boico for Arena Boxing Moldova. A promoter and a coach, Boico is an increasingly important man in Moldovan boxing and in Israeli boxing. Last night's event included boxers from several countries.

Boxing has the power to bring people together. This is especially true in Israel where Jews and Arabs don't always have a chance to develop meaningful relationships with one another. Since the popularity of the sport is relatively small in the country, Jews and Arabs must train together. Boxing can help form friendships that might not otherwise exist. These friendships can help break down walls of bigotry.

The old Am-Shalem's gym in Nazareth was a place that brought together Jews and Arabs. Tony Milch's Gloves and Doves program is also bringing boxers of different backgrounds together in an attempt to foster peace. The relationship between Arthur Abramov and Nur Rabia, chronicled in the short film Jerusalem In Between, is another example of boxing building bridges.

It's ironic that such a violent sport can help forge unlikely friendships, but there is something about two fighters baring their souls inside the squared circle, putting their lives on the line for the entertainment of the fans, that produces a shared experience in which few others in the world can relate.

As Dahlia Am-Shalem once said, "You take two boxers: one white, one black; one Arab, one Jew; whatever and whoever wins the fight, you'll always see them embrace at the end. Boxing breeds mutual respect. It binds people together."

David Alaverdian Wants to Fight

David Alaverdian had hoped to fight a higher ranked opponent in the United States at flyweight this month. He recently revealed on Instagram that two separate opponents had agreed to fight him before backing out.

The Jewish Boxing Blog reached out to David about the two opponents, but he politely declined to name them. Since they weren't going to fight him anyway, naming them would only serve to embarrass them, which isn't Alaverdian's goal. He just wants to fight. David did tell The JBB that the two opponents were both in the super flyweight division.

"If we don't find anyone," David told The JBB,  "we'll have to do Mexico again until I'm ranked high enough for better fights." Mexico is the place to find 112 and 115 pounders willing to fight. About a fourth of all flyweights and super flyweights listed on BoxRec are from Mexico.

At 5-0 with 4 KOs, Alaverdian's ability has outpaced his résumé. The problem is prospective opponents know it and are scared to fight him. "To be honest, I'm a bit frustrated," the Israeli native admitted. "But we'll get through it."

Review of Championship Rounds

Championship Rounds
By Bernard Fernandez
RKMA Publishing, 2020

"Boxing is an improbable union of naked power and subtle artistry, of stark fear and unbridled courage," says Hall of Fame boxing scribe Bernard Fernandez, who is at his best when writing a heartfelt story about Bernard Hopkins's relationship with Shaun Negler, a cancer-stricken kid, or about Craig Bodzianowski, the one legged cruiserweight.

Fernandez shows off his storytelling abilities in Championship Rounds, a collection of his boxing articles through the years, many of them focused on his adopted hometown of Philadelphia. Within his articles, he expertly places anecdotes in perfect positions. It makes for engaging profiles.

There are some issues, however. While the organization within each article is impeccable, the organization of the book as a whole is a bit scattershot. The chapters are divided into sections, but the sections themselves are forced and don't serve a greater purpose. In most of his articles, Fernandez shows compassion for the people he covers, but there are times when he mocks a boxer's eccentricities without attempting to understand their origin. The joke about James Toney and Riddick Bowe's weight gain falls flat, for example.

Typos are a bizarre aspect of the book. For the most part, they're so minor they're not worth mentioning but for the fact that virtually none of the errors appear in Fernandez's original articles. In the Kindle edition at least, the rematch between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston is ludicrously suggested to have taken place in 1985. In the original article, the appropriate date of 1965 is present. In the same article, one about the fight between Laila Ali and Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, the date for Laila's debut is incorrectly stated as 1989 in both the book and, as an exception to the rule, in the original too.

Speaking of women's boxing, Fernandez has an entire section on the subject and attempts to be supportive. In the foreword, George Foreman describes Fernandez as "among the last of a dying breed." It's meant as a compliment, but it can unflatteringly describe his opinion of women's boxing and the way he writes about women in general. While supposedly bemoaning the fact that women's boxing was viewed as a novelty, he includes an article about Tonya Harding's boxing career in the book. Even when discussing a serious boxer, Claressa Shields,  he ponders if she can save women's boxing, a tired trope even by the time of the article's debut in 2016. Problematically, there isn't a female in the book whose level of attractiveness escapes comment it seems.

No Jews are featured, but many make brief cameos: Al Braverman, Don Elbaum, Bruce Silvergrade, Al Bernstein, Howard Cossell, Shelly Finkel, and Larry Merchant among them. Of course, it's hard to write a book about boxing over the past fifty years without mentioning the name Bob Arum. Trainer Ray Arcel, Ruby Goldstein (as a ref), Damon Feldman, and Bruce "Mouse" Strauss also appear.

In Championship Rounds articles about the likes of Tex Cobb and Archie Moore were fascinating. Reading another of the same old stuff about Mike Tyson, less so. But there's enough interesting content present to outweigh the book's shortcomings.