Yuri Foreman

Yuri Foreman (Hebrew: יורי פורמן; born August 5, 1980) is an Israeli professional boxer who held the WBA super welterweight title from 2009 to 2010. He was born in Gomel, Belarus, but boxed out of Brooklyn, New York. Foreman has also pursued Jewish religious studies during his boxing career, and in 2014 was ordained as a rabbi. He has been referred to as the "Boxing Rabbi."

Early years Yuri Foreman was born in Gomel, in Belarus, then part of the Soviet Union. He started out as a swimmer, but his mother signed him up for boxing lessons at age seven after he experienced bullying and beatings. At age nine, he immigrated with his family to Israel. Boxing was not popular in Israel and there were few boxing gyms so he trained at an Arab gym. On his early days in boxing, Foreman said: The first time I walked in, I saw the stares. In their eyes, there was a lot of hatred. But I needed to box; and boy, did they all want to box me. After a while, the wall that was between us melted. We all wanted the same thing. I traveled with them as teammates. It helped that I won almost all the time. And finally, we became friends." In 1999, Foreman moved to Brooklyn, New York City. His first job was in the Garment District in Manhattan, where he made deliveries and swept the floors for a clothing store. At the same time, he began training at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, where he met his first wife, Leyla Leidecker. During this period of time was when he found a Brooklyn Heights synagogue while in search of enlightenment. He was quoted saying, "As I was maturing, as a person and a fighter, I realized that I needed some sort of spiritual center to achieve things physically, especially in boxing where you need to have good spiritual form and good physical form. I needed an outlet — a spiritual backbone, so I could push myself better, channel my energy, be more present." He embarked on the long road to becoming a rabbi and was eventually ordained under the tutelage of Rabbi Dovber Pinson.

Amateur career In 2000, Foreman lost the New York Golden Gloves in the final, His next scheduled fight was June 9, 2007 facing the favored Anthony Thompson (23 (17 KOs)-2-0) of Philadelphia in Madison Square Garden on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto–Zab Judah fight. Prior to the fight, Foreman moved his training grounds from Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn to Joe Grier's gym in Paterson, New Jersey.

In April 2008 he beat 28–4–0 Saúl Román in a unanimous decision. While training for the fight, he was also studying to become a rabbi. In October 2008, he defeated Vinroy Barrett (22–7, 11 KOs) from Kingston, Jamaica on the Pavlik-Hopkins undercard.

Foreman defeated James Moore (16–1; 10 KOs), in a 10-round unanimous decision for Foreman's NABF title at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on December 13, 2008. In the five outings leading up to the Moore fight, Foreman won decisions over fighters with a cumulative record of 118–17–2.

WBA super welterweight champion

On November 14, 2009, Foreman defeated Daniel Santos by a 12-round unanimous decision to become the new WBA super welterweight champion and Israel's first WBA champion. He also became Israel's first world boxing champion.

When asked why he continued after injuring his leg, Foreman said: "I'm a world champion – now a former world champion – and you don't just quit ... A world champion needs to keep on fighting." A week after the fight, Foreman underwent surgery on his right knee to repair a torn ACL and Meniscus and to remove torn cartilage around his knee joint. The injury which had occurred when he was 15 years old, was aggravated during the bout. Foreman was told by doctors to take off for a year, but was boxing again nine months later. On March 2, 2011, he battled Polish Light Middleweight boxer Pawel Wolak, and lost.

After a 22-month layoff, Foreman was victorious in his return to the ring on Lou DiBella's Broadway Boxing card at BB Kings in Manhattan, New York on January 23, 2013. Yuri won the 6-round bout by unanimous decision. On April 4, 2013, Foreman again emerged victorious by winning a six-round bout. He defeated Gundrick King by unanimous decision in the junior middleweight division at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC.

Foreman began teaching boxing classes in the famous Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn New York in 2020.

Jewish heritage and rabbinic studies Foreman, "the first Orthodox Jew to own a world title since Barney Ross held championships in two divisions in 1935", 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).

In the post-fight interview of his December 2007 win over Andrey Tsurkan, Foreman raised his hands and wished the television audience a happy Chanukah. Foreman, who wears a Star of David on his boxing trunks, is an aspiring rabbi. "Boxing is sometimes spiritual in its own way", he said. "You have the physical and mental challenges in boxing, just like you have lots of challenges in exploring the different levels of Judaism. They are different but the same."

Professional boxing record

TV and film Foreman has appeared numerous times in nationally televised fights on ESPN, Showtime, HBO and Versus, and on talk shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He appeared in the film Fighting, which starred Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard.

Personal life In 2018 Foreman was married to Shoshanna Hadassah.