Brooklyn rabbinic student becomes first Israeli world boxing champion

November 16, 1:00 AMNY Jewish Culture ExaminerDavid Cooper

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Yuri Foreman, from Brooklyn, N.Y., after winning his WBA super welterweight boxing title fight 11/14
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

He spends his mornings studying Tanach, Talmud, and commentaries, his afternoons training in the weight room, jogging or sparring in the boxing ring. Saturday night in Las Vegas after observing Shabbat in his hotel room Brooklyn resident Yuri Foreman became the first Israeli to win a world boxing title when he defeated Daniel Santos of Puerto Rico by unanimous decision to take the WBA super welterweight (154 lb. weight class) boxing title. Santos was favored to win the match, but Foreman dominated all 12 rounds.

29 year old Foreman was born in Belarus, immigrated to Israel with his parents as a child, has been living in Brooklyn for nearly a decade and studying to become a rabbi for the past three years. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports he is on track to complete his studies and become ordained in a year, after which he plans to return to Israel to serve as a community rabbi with occasional trips abroad to defend his boxing title.

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