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January 22, 1988 - Image 43

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1988-01-22

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take care of this I'll come by
tomorrow morning, I'll come
by the hotel.' He was staying
at the Pontchartrain, and I
told him I would meet him
there about 8. And I figured
I'd knock on the door, there
would be his whole entourage
there. Ali is the type of person
that you never really get that
one-on-one — it's like, if
you're a scientist, being alone
with Albert Einstein for
awhile. And I knock on the
door and he answers the door
alone. He's in the room alone.
I went in there, numbed his
foot and took care of his foot
for him. We sat there for
almost an hour and talked
about things — nothing about
boxing — he was such a sen-
sitive and raring type of per-
son. When I went to leave he
took me and hugged me and
to me that was one of the
greatest highlights,
something I'll always cherish
and remember."
Kirschenbaum resides in
Franklin with his wife of 20
years, Janice, son Storm and
daughter Jenni, 14.
Kirschenbaum is one of on-
ly two Jewish state boxing
commissioners — Jim
Resnick of Florida is the
other. As for boxers, there
were many Jewish champions
early in the century, following
major waves of Jewish im-
migration. He knows of no ac-
tive Jewish boxers. Boxing, he
says, is "just nothing that a
nice Jewish boy would want
to do anymore."
For the future, Kirschen-
baum and the board are mak-
ing plans for the possible in-
troduction of casino gambling
in Michigan. "We're not tak-
ing any stand pro or con on
casino gambling," he states.
"We're like any good
businessperson planning
ahead for the future. We want
to be ready if that's what the
people of Michigan want:'
Nevada and New Jersey,
which have legalized gambl-

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Dr. Kirschenbaum sparred with "Hit Man" Thomas Hearns in 1980.

Kirschenbaum won eight
straight amateur fights
before his last bout ended
after two rounds due to a
shoulder injury. The injury,
he adds, kept him out of Viet-
nam. "Prior to that I was
receiving a lot of publicity
and was offered a professional
contract. I was hoping at one
time, perhaps, before my in-
juries, of making it to the
Maccabi Games. But it was a
dream, I just kept pursuing
my interest thereafter."
Kirshcenbaum did a
residency in foot surgery in
Detroit's Kern Hospital, then
opened a private practice in
1971. He became a boxing
judge in 1977 and was ap-
pointed to the Board of Con-
trol by Republican Gov.
William Milliken in 1981. In
a rare move in the boxing
world, Democratic Gov. Jim
Blanchard re-appointed
Kirschenbaum the following
year. Perhaps he knew that
Kirschenbaum was a fellow
MSU grad, though more like-
ly the re-appointment was
due to Kirschenbaum's good
reputation and excellent box-
ing knowledge.
As state boxing commi-
sioner, Kirschenbaum, who
calls himself a "student of the
sport," enjoys a good relation-
ship with Michigan's fighters.
"Many of the boxers that have
come in the state of Michigan
have sort of looked at me as
a surrogate father-type of im-
age. I have no problem handl-
ing that, but the managers
and the promoters, people of
that type, I feel I should main-
tain some sort of distance to
do what I have to do properly."
One of Kirschenbaum's
greatest moments in the fight
business involved the biggest
name in recent boxing
history, Muhammad Ali. In
1985, Ali attended a press
conference in Detroit, but was
in pain due to a broken toe.
Kirschenbaum offered his ser-
vices. "I said, 'Champ, let me

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TH_EDETROIT JEWISH NEWS

43

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