Dmitriy Salita Announces Next Fight
Orthodox boxer Dmitriy Salita held an intimate press conference yesterday in Manhattan that could have easily been mistaken for a “Kiddush Club” at Saturday morning services — had there been schnapps and herring.
The boxer was announcing his next scheduled fight, “Redemption,” slated for September 1 at Brooklyn’s Oceana Hall. Who he will be fighting is still unknown. While fellow Orthodox boxer Yuri Foreman was famous enough to grace huge New York subway-station posters two months ago, Salita is having trouble finding an opponent after his humiliating defeat by Amir Khan at a May 12 fight in England.
Despite his recent struggles, Salita was upbeat about the upcoming fight. “Mentally I’m very excited. After this we’ll be successful,” he said. “I’ve had a tremendous amount of community support. Hopefully very soon I’m gonna have my feet on the ground. I’ve been working very hard.”
His supporters are also optimistic. The fifteen minutes before Salita arrived in the room, a group of elderly Jewish men sat around a table, kibitzing about the boxer as if he were a promising young congregant.
“That Russian kid is really talented,” said one, referring to Salita, who was born in the Ukraine. “His wife is ‘with child,’ as they say. I found out from him at the Israel Day Parade.”
Salita’s fans hope he will win. If not, they’ll surely give him some extra herring when they see him in shul.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO