I was reading the as-per-usual sub-par ESPN the Magazine that has more fluff than interesting sports analysis and stumbled upon the boxing section (one of two I usually skip instinctively along with the useless left handed turning convention of southerners known as NASCAR).
The small magazine piece talked about big time promoter Bob Arum who "says the highlight of his career is still just up ahead." The highlight he is speaking of is Yuri Foreman.
Russian & Jewish, perfect Boxing breeding?
The piece continues,
"Arum is glad to be the one returning boxing to the Bronx, but the fight matters to him for another reason. Like Arum, Foreman is Jewish (an aspiring rabbi, actually); the Israeli national anthem will play as he enters the ring. 'I'll be thinking of what my late mom and dad would think,' Arum says. 'They weren't so happy I went into this sport. Hearing 'Hatikva' will be my greatest moment in boxing."You've heard of the great white hope, now add a dash of a Hebrew pugilistic bomber and you've got Yuri Foreman. He will be fighting Miguel Cotto, who lost to Pacquiao and is trying to rebuild himself a bit by fighting Foreman, who also happens to be undefeated. Arum says if he beats Foreman, he might get another shot at Manny. According to multiple sources, Arum originally tried to get Pacquiao to fight Foreman but failed and went to Cotto.
The fight interestingly enough will take place at Yankee Stadium, and even more interestingly to a prospective Rabbi, it is on a Saturday night. So this means that it might be tough for Religious Jews to actually go to the fight, although the smart ones avoid the Bronx at all costs unless they want to lose their car.
On the Rabbi front, his Wikipedia says Foreman "studies the Talmud and Jewish mysticism in the morning, trains for boxing in the afternoon and attends rabbinical classes twice a week at the IYYUN Institute, a Jewish educational center in Gowanus."
ESPN's long piece news program E:60 just produced a piece on the buildup:
And a Jew is even more unlikely to pay $50 or $60 so thankfully it is free if you have HBO. I took an informal survey over Memorial Day Weekend at some Jewish BBQs in Teaneck and found that most of them had heard about the fight, none were planning on watching or attending but they knew a few people who were.
Foreman does not have the culturally identied contingent like a Pacquaio or many Latino fighters like Oscar De La Hoya does to fill the stands. He is not a Sandy Koufax or a Hank Greenberg, where Jews have begun to support them because they are Jewish and sucessful. He is undefeated but he doesn't have the signature wins to make people notice him in the general public. But if he wins this fight, maybe that changes. Yuri Foreman could be the next big Jewish sports icon.
He could be the Hebrew Hammer but that name is taken by multiple people (see the movie & the slugger).
That's a rare sight.
May Hashem be with you Yuri. Keep your Panim safe. The fight takes place this Saturday June 5 on HBO at about 11 PM EST.
On the humorous side, if he does become that famous maybe he can open a Boxing Synangogue like these guys opened on MMA churches, as featured on the Daily Show:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| God Smacked | ||||
| ||||
----
Related Links:
The Quest For A Competitive HBO Telecast (BoxingScene)
Dunkin' Donuts, intense training and self belief (Newark Examiner)
The return of boxing to the Bronx (USA Today)
Yuri Foreman on Wikipedia
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment