Posts Tagged ‘Judaism’

Salita Vs.Munoz, May 24, 2009 - Photo by Mary Ann Owen

     When you ask Dmitriy Salita how he is doing, he answers with a fervent: ”Fine, Thank God.”   It’s not just an expression of speech. For Boxing champion Dmitriy “Star of David” Salita is a believer. 
      His whole life is one of devotion — from the Judaism he embraced after he came to this country from the Ukraine to Boxing — the sweet science that has catapulted him to fame  in the United States.  Soft-spoken and gentlemanly, the 27-year-old Junior Welterweight — who is undefeated this year with a record of 30-0 — sees no contradiction in being a devout Jew and his obsession with a sport that turns him into a predator in the ring.  
       “Religion is integrated with everything you do,” Salita said during a recent telephone interview. “It’s a very false idea that it is only practiced in a synagogue. Religion is practiced in every field that you’re in. You take what you learn in the synagogue into the street.
      “It’s a step by step process. It helps develop and improve you as a human being.”
      It hasn’t been an easy path. Because of increasing anti-semitism, his family left Odessa when he was 9 and settled in Brooklyn. They struggled — with the culture — and lack of money. Someone gave him a boxing glove when he was 13 — and the rest — as they say is History.

         Finding a Dream

         But the seeds of that passion were planted earlier — in Odessa. He told an interviewer he remembers running through the snow  pretending to be Rocky. In Brooklyn, he discovered the Starrett City Boxing Club and Jimmy O’Pharrow,  the African-American coach who famously said: “Salita looks Russian, prays Jewish and fights black.”
      “I came to Starrett City and I met O’Pharrow when I was 13,” says Salita.  He didn’t immediately become a mentor. It happened step-by-step. Jimmy recognized my abilities and my hard work…  He saw something in me and developed it,” Salita says.  He moved through the ranks quickly, winning a Bronze medal at the Junior Olympics when he was 16 and a Golden Gloves title 3 years later.
      When he was a teenager, Salita’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Before she died, his mother asked O’Pharrow to look after him. O’Pharrow did that, watching over his protégé with a gruff tenderness.  Salita, who also trains with Francisco Guzman, remains extremely close with O’Pharrow.  ”Jimmy is like my grandfather,” says Salita.  “He will always be in my life. He’s someone that I love. He taught me a lot about life. Jimmy is a great person — someone I continue to learn from.”
      It was in his mother’s hospital room which she shared with a Chabad Lubavitch woman that Salita connected with his Judaism in a profound way.
        He goes to services every day now at the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn and refuses to fight on the Sabbath.  “The Chabad Lubavitch outlook — they are very orthodox. They know the value of every person — they don’t judge.”
 
        Still Hungry                
                          
      A Salita boxing match draws more than just the usual suspects.   Much of his fan base comes from the orthodox community. Kids dressed in yeshiva garb and grey bearded rabbis mingle with Brooklyn hip hoppers and boxing aficionados. When he is introduced, an Israeli flag comes out and Israeli music is played. His fans call him ‘Dima’ and ‘Kid Kosher’ and of course Dmitriy, ‘Star of David’ Salita.
     He’s the subject of a documentary “Orthodox Stance,” and an HBO special. But he’s still hungry. He still wants more. He wants, he says, a shot at the Title.  He wants to be World Champion.
    That opportunity may come soon — later this year in London — when he will fight Amir Khan, the current Junior Welterweight world champion. “I look forward to my title shot,” says Salita.  “That should be the most exciting night — as it has been my dream my whole life.”