38 | JULY 16 • 2020
sports HIGHlights
record, and a 35-2-1 record
in 12 years as a professional
fighter.
The 2001 Golden Gloves
junior welterweight cham-
pion and winner of the
Ray Robinson Award as
the amateur tournament’
s
outstanding boxer, Salita
became a professional
boxer that year at age 19.
That’
s when he signed
with Las Vegas-based Bob
Arum, whose Top Rank
promotions has represented
boxing stars such as George
Foreman, Larry Holmes,
Oscar De La Hoya and
Manny Pacquiao.
Salita never boxed pro-
fessionally on the Sabbath,
nicknamed himself “The
Star of David,” decorated
his blue boxing gloves with
silver Stars of David and
wore a yarmulke every-
where except in the ring.
“Boxing has helped me
with my Judaism, and
Judaism has helped me
with my boxing. If it wasn’
t
for boxing, I might not be
as religious as I am,” Salita
told the Washington Post in
2002.
“Every time before I
fight, I ask God for help,
even when I spar. You’
re
there all alone. The only
one who can help you is
God.”
It was while he was liv-
ing in Brooklyn that Salita
became an Orthodox Jew.
He attended services at the
Chabad of Flatbush.
Salita trained at the
iconic Starrett City Boxing
Club in Brooklyn, starting
when he was 13, and the
Kronk Gym with Emanuel
Steward. He moved to the
Detroit area in 2016.
A Top Rank publicist
said this about Salita in the
2002 Washington Post story:
“Maybe every 75 years a
good Jewish fighter comes
along. Dmitriy is as rare as
Halley’
s Comet.”
ABOVE: Dmitriy Salita promotes
a nationally televised fight
between two-time Olympic gold
medalist and world champion
Claressa Shields and Christina
Hammer.
LEFT: Dmitriy Salita’
s hand
is raised by referee David
Diamante at Oceana Hall in
Brighton Beach Brooklyn,
New York, in 2010.
continued from page 36
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