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Monday, October 15, 2012

Groenteman Wins Dutch Junior Welterweight Title

Barry Groenteman captured the vacant Dutch junior welterweight title today by drawing with Belgian Tarik Madni at Theater Carré in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This is far and away Groenteman's biggest result of his career. By drawing with the Belgian fighter, Groenteman was awarded the Dutch belt. The bout was part of the Ben Bril Memorial boxing event.

Ben Bril was a Dutch Jew who boxed in the 1928 Olympics. His country was banned in 1932 and he boycotted the 1936 Berlin Games because of the Nazis. Bril spent time in Bergen-Belsen during the Holocaust. Bril later became a professional boxing referee and lived to the age of 91.

That Groenteman's performance came at the memorial for a fellow Dutch Jewish boxer makes it all the more sweet. He weighed in at 138.25 pounds for the bout and Madni was 139. Barry's record is now 7-5-2 with 2 KOs. Madni is 17-4-1.

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