Israel’s First Boxing Champ?

All eyes in the UK are currently on Dmitriy Salita, the Jewish boxer from New York who will fight Amir Khan in Newcastle next month for the WBA light-welterweight title.

But ahead of that is another important contest for Jewish boxing fans.

When Yuri Foreman steps into the ring in Las Vegas next Saturday, as a challenger for the WBA light middleweight crown, he will become the first Israeli citizen ever to fight for a world boxing title.

Both Dmitriy and Yuri have been making headlines lately because, as well as being Jewish boxers (a rare breed nowadays) they have both also turned to Orthodox Judaism in recent years. Indeed, Yuri has gone one step further. He’s training to be a rabbi and hoping to move back to Israel–his home from 1990 to 1999–in a few years.

Yuri lives in Brooklyn and I interviewed him this week for the Jewish Chronicle. The video above is a few years old, but quite prescient considering the fight ahead.