01 Dec YURI FOREMAN, FORMER BOXING CHAMP & ORDAINED RABBI, RETURNS TO THE RING
FAST FACTS:
Name: Yuri Foreman
Hebrew Name: David Uri ben Avraham
Born: August 5, 1980 (age 40) in Gomel, Belarus (Soviet Union) Grew up in Israel, now lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Moved to Brooklyn: 1999
Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: 154 lbs
Spouse: Shoshana Hadassah Foreman (m. 2018)
Children: 3 Boys- Lev, 10, Eliyah, 7, Aviel, 4
Rated at: Light middleweight
Languages spoken: English, Hebrew, Russian
First job: in the Garment District in Manhattan, where he made deliveries and swept the floors for a clothing store.
Received S’micha under the tutelage of: Rabbi Dov Ber Pinson of Lubavitch Foreman, wears a Star of David on his boxing trunks
Yuri Foreman, the former junior middleweight boxing champion and an ordained Orthodox Rabbi, is going back into the ring this coming Motzei Shabbos to fight Jeremy Ramos in Louisville, Kentucky. Foreman, 40, is the first Orthodox Jew to win a world title in over 70 years when he beat Daniel Santos in 2009. Foreman has fought in 38 professional boxing matches & won 34 of them. Foreman is the first Orthodox Jew to own a world title since Barney Ross held championships in two divisions in 1935, and is one of three top contemporary Jewish boxers. The others are Dmitry Salita (30–1–1), a junior welterweight, and heavyweight Roman Greenberg (27–1–0). Foreman began teaching boxing classes in the famous Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York in 2020. Five years ago during Chanukah, Yuri met with Ari Hirsch from The Jewish Vues at the famous Gleason’s Gym for an exclusive interview.
How did you get into boxing?
I was seven years old in the Soviet Union. My parents pushed each child to do one kind of sport. My parents started me off with swimming, but I was bullied a couple times, so my mother signed me up for boxing and I fell in love with it immediately.
Who was your favorite boxer growing up?
Mike Tyson, no doubt about it. I was and still am a big fan of his and I’ve watched every fight of his. He came to Gleason’s Gym once and I met him. He is a very fascinating human being. He was very nice, warm and he is a real heated philosopher. He blew my mind with his world view and he is quite articulate. It is very inspirational observing him and his journey. He has hit many bumps on the road and he used these experiences to become a better person. I have a lot of respect for him, recently watching him lose over 100 lbs, tying up his gloves again and returning to the ring. He shows that if you put your mind, heart and soul into it, everything is possible, including fighting professionally at age 54!
What’s your daily routine?
I wake up in the morning, I daven, and go to morning training. These days the training has been either at Manhattan beach, a park in Sheepshead Bay, and rarely if the gym is allowed to be open I can train at the Underground Gym. After training, I make sure I’m having the best, plant-based nutrition. My wife and manager, Shoshana, always prepares my food, she is vegan for almost 16 years now and is a fantastic cook. After breakfast, I rest and recover until my evening training. I generally go to sleep at 10 pm, depending on what time I need to be up in the morning, making sure I get 8 hours of sleep. The two biggest factors in the quality of performance is nutrition and sleep quality and quantity.
How are boxing and Judaism similar?
They do appear to have no connection. One in particular is that when you’re in the ring, you need to be in control of your emotions. You can’t let fear, anger, or other negative emotions get the best of you. Boxing is pragmatic. Fear is the antithesis of life. Fear is the end of progress and of moving forward. You can’t channel or suppress fear. You need to recognize that it’s there and guide it in a different direction. If you’re not in control of it, then you’ve lost the fight before it’s even begun. In Judaism, there are so many mitzvot that are “designed” for us to be in control of our emotions, where the yetzer hara can’t take control of you. Before a fight, the referee tells us boxers as we face each other: Obey by the rules and protect yourselves at all times. “Protect yourselves at all times” applies to outside the ring, as well. All of us fight outside the ring against ourselves, our yetzer hara, and our emotions. I try to be on top of this. For example, Avraham Avinu was really a master of his nature and his physicality. He had all the challenges in the world: he had risks and I’m sure he had temptations, but he made himself. We learn that Mashiach will come riding on a donkey. This seems strange- a donkey in 2020? The letters in Hebrew of the word donkey-(chet, mem,vuv, reish) are the same as material. It’s signifying that Avraham Avinu was iding on top of materialism. Materialism for him was nothing. Bob Marley said: Some people are so poor, the only thing they have is money. We, as a society are driven by materialism. We lose sight of the big picture. Avraham Avinu had a lot of great wealth, but he looked at it as Hashem blessed him. He looked at it as a good thing, but not the main thing.
Is it true that you trained in Arab gyms while growing up in Israel?
Yes, I did train in Arab gyms. In Israel, boxing isn’t such a popular sport. Boxing is mostly done by immigrants and Arabs in Israel. Once in a while you have a talented kid, but it’s not a popular sport. Growing up, we didn’t have money, but my parents paid extra for the international experience of boxing.
Do you find that there’s antisemitism in the gym and in boxing in general?
That’s the beauty of this sport, especially here in America, but even in Israel while training with Arabs. There’s two different groups of people, nationalities, sharing the same dream and the small details: financial background, religion, etc., those barriers disappear. We both have the same goals. We aren’t competition, rather we are sharing the same goals. There’s no politics here. There are all types of people here: Moslem, Blacks, Hispanics, and we all train side-by-side. There’s a Moslem guy here named Jihad and when we see each other he screams, “YURI!” and I shout back, “JIHAD!” Where else can you shout “Jihad” and it’s friendly and warm?
What kind of music do you like to listen to while working out?
I like all music, but when I train, I listen to heavy rock, both British and American.
“Rocky” the movie. Are you a fan of the series?
I’m a fan of Rocky 1,2,3, and 4. I’ve watched them all countless times and it never gets old.
What’s your next plan?
My goal is to become the World Champion again. This was my goal the last time we spoke, but back then my life’s situation was not aligned with it. Since then I have weeded out what was not serving me and holding me back. Thank G-d, I’ve learned from all of my experiences, which has given me the wisdom and strength to make better decisions and attract compatible people into my life.
When do you plan on having your next fight?
December 5th in Louisville, KY
Please tell Jewish Vues readers about your experience at Yankee Stadium in 2010.
It was an amazing experience. Athletes in general are very down to earth people. I had no idea who some of them were, including Derek Jeter or Jorge Posada, but they were really great to meet. I came to this country twenty three years ago with a backpack and a dream and I never really expected that I would be at Yankee Stadium. They had the Israeli flags flying and it really made me proud to be in that position to be able to represent my people and different ethnic people under one “roof.”
What do you plan on doing once your boxing career is over?
My boxing career isn’t over yet, and it is imperative to be present in all that we do. After I complete my last chapter of boxing, I will be ready to explore what’s next.
If one of your sons told you that he wanted to go into boxing, what would you say?
I don’t know if any of them will be particularly interested, and I don’t particularly want them to be interested. If any of them decide they want to box I would of course warn them of the dangers, and from there they can experience it and learn if that’s what they really want.
Do you plan on moving back to Israel at any time?
No, I don’t plan on moving back. I would love to visit again. My father still lives there and I have friends there, so one day I”Y I will return and reconnect.
If you could have three dinner guests from the beginning of time, who would it be?
My mother, her mother, and my great grandmother. Everyone has a strong connection with their mother, whether it be in the physical word or in spirit. I miss my mother very much. I also love and feel very much connected with my grandmother and great grandmother. Matriarchs have great energy and I wish I could still connect in the physical world.