Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
62 | JANUARY 12 • 2023
Jews and Boxing
O
ver the years, our JN sports
reporter, Steve Stein, has written
a number of articles about
boxing. Last year, he penned several
items about boxing matches promoted by
Dmitriy Salita, who is a rare person in the
modern era: an Orthodox Jewish boxing
promoter.
From 2001-2013, Salita was himself an
accomplished welterweight
boxer, with a fine record of
35 wins and only two losses
with one draw. Observant, he
did not fight on Shabbat or
Jewish holidays.
The heyday of Jewish
boxers is long past. In the
1920s and 1930s, when
boxing was perhaps the
most popular sport in America, many
championship belts were held by Jewish
boxers. Steve’s recent reports about Salita
reminded me that there are still Jewish
— and Israeli — professional boxers, so,
I thought I would research the sport in
the William Davidson Digital Archive of
Jewish Detroit History.
The search term “boxing” is mentioned
on over a whopping 40,000 pages. Many of
these references, however, cite “boxes” or
a “box” or the like. Even when eliminating
citations with such derivatives, the Detroit
Jewish Chronicle and JN over the past
100 years hold thousands of stories about
boxing and boxers.
The earliest boxing story is in the
Aug. 10, 1917, Chronicle. The article
has a somewhat archaic-sounding title,
“Pugilistic Ranks Invaded By Hebrews
Who Hold Four of Seven World’s Titles,”
but it makes quite a statement. In an era
when only seven people in the entire
world were universally recognized boxing
champions, Jews held over half the titles.
Observant Jewish professional athletes,
like Salita, have always had a tougher path
to follow. Legendary baseball player Hank
Greenberg, for example, suffered criticism
and jeers when he refused to play on
Yom Kippur. Long before Greenberg’s
time, all-time great lightweight
champion boxer Benny Leonard
declared: “If I Can’t be Home With
‘Ma’ on Yom Kippur, I Won’t Fight.”
His bout in Detroit was rescheduled
so that he could be home in New
York for the High Holiday (Oct. 3,
1919, Chronicle).
Some Jewish boxers excelled
beyond a championship title. At one time,
Barney Ross held both the lightweight
and welterweight belts (June 6, 1934,
Chronicle). After his retirement from the
ring, Ross would go on to become a hero
with the Marines in World War II.
Max Baer reached the pinnacle of
the sporting world when he beat James
Braddock for the world heavyweight
championship in 1934. In the ring, Baer
always wore the Star of David on his
trunks in honor of his Jewish grandfather
(June 22, 1934, Chronicle).
While Jewish boxers are rarer these
days, there are still many Jewish
promoters, managers, writers, television
commentators and others who participate
in the sport. This includes a number of
Jewish Detroiters. Jackie Kallen is one
of only a few women to manage boxers.
Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum was the state
boxing commissioner for many years.
Jessica Hauser is the executive director
of the Downtown Boxing Gym that
does so much for Detroit youth. And,
Dmitriy Salita promotes boxing in Detroit,
including the best female boxer in the
world, Claressa Shields, who is from Flint.
For those interested in the “Sweet
Science,” as famed New York writer A.J.
Liebling called boxing, the Davidson
Archives holds a wealth of boxing history
and stories of Jewish boxers.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation
archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.
org.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair