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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Yuri Foreman on Jewish Boxing

In an interview with The Jewish Boxing Blog, former world champion Yuri Foreman discussed why his favorite Jewish boxer of all time is Barney Ross and what being a Jewish boxer means to him.

Foreman explained that Ross is his favorite Jewish boxer because of the latter's background. Ross, born in New York, grew up in Chicago as the son of immigrants. Foreman admired Ross's character. A three-division world champion, Ross fought in World War II. Foreman sees similarities between himself and the late legend.

Yuri declared that being Jewish has not hindered his boxing career at all. He noted that big fights are usually on Saturday night and promoters tend to be respectful of Foreman's observance of Shabbat. His fights are scheduled for after sundown when they take place on a Saturday night. Foreman believes that his observance of Shabbat is in fact an advantage. It allows him to have a day of rest before his fight.

Foreman believes that being a Jewish boxer, he is in an important position to inspire Jewish kids. he contends, "Maybe they see me and say they can be whatever they want to be."


Note: Yuri Foreman was asked for his favorite Jewish boxer and non-Jewish boxer for The Jewish Boxing Blog Presents: The Fights. The favorites of eight Jewish boxers are featured in the book along with any explanations they provided.

1 comment:

  1. Barney Ross could be a contender for the greatest movie ever made-"nobody" would believe it.So far:Sylvester Stallone ripped off his name for 'The Expendables' and Ross succesfully sued 'Body and Soul'(originally supposed to be about Ross but John Garfield wouldn't play a "drug addict") and 'Monkey On My Back' which emphasized Ross's drug use(occupational hazzard from being a war hero)-my vote for the worst movie ever made..I'm still waiting for a serious reason why Ross didn't get the Congressional Medal of Honor.

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