Yuri Foreman - Jewish Boxer

Junior Middleweight and a major prospect in professional boxing

Yuri Foreman was 11 years old when his family emigrated from Belarus to Israel ending up in a small city called Haifa. Picked on by his classmates because of his Soviet origins, Foreman soon picked up boxing, a sport he had been passionate about since he was a seven year old boy and watching Mike Tyson fight on television.

With nowhere to train (boxing is not very popular in Israel), Foreman and several other boys began to train each other the fundamentals of boxing in a dirt lot or in makeshift rings set up in high school classrooms. Eventually when he could find no real competition to spar with, Foreman was told to go fight the Arabs, which he proceeded to do. He entered a Palestinian Arab gym and soon began to spar with the locals, earning an enormous amount of respect and admiration from just about everyone he encountered, especially after knocking out a few of the Arab fighters.

Soon Foreman began competing as an amateur and eventually won several Israeli national championships. At this point he was fighting in the European style, which can be described as quick leg movements and lots of jabs.

In 1999 Foreman immigrated to the United States and made his new home in Brooklyn, New York. The first stop he made upon his arrival was to the fabled Gleason's Gym where he immediately fell in love with the environment. He was soon training and sparring with the likes of welterweight champ Zab Judah.

Combining both the European and American styles of boxing, in 2001 Foreman won the New York Golden Gloves.

In 2002 the 5'11 Foreman went pro fighting as a Junior Middleweight at 154 pounds. In December of 2007 he won a split decision against Andrey Tsurkan and claimed the NABF super welterweight title.

Along with boxing, Foreman studies the Talmud and Jewish mysticism with Brooklyn Rabbi DovBer Pinson. He wears a Star of David on his trunks.

As of April 2008 his record stands at 25-0 with 8 knockouts, and he has been facing increasingly tough competition. On April 2, 2008 he fought undefeated Saul Roman to a 10 round decision winning the NABF light middleweight title.

He, Roman Greenberg and Dimitriy Salita are considered the three top Jewish prospects in the sport of boxing.

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