Dmitriy Salita Moves On To Bigger And Better

January 10, 2008

Prior to World War II, Jewish boxers were the norm. Believe it or not, some of the sport’s brightest stars were Jews. Fighters like Abe Attell, Reuven Goldstein and Maxie Rosenbloom were as good as any and while they did share the same religion, back then, they were known as great boxers who just so happened to be Jewish.

Nowadays, things are a little different. The Jewish boxer is more of anomaly. So, when I first heard about Dmitriy “Star Of David” Salita – a practicing Orthodox Jew who refuses to fight on the Jewish Sabbath (sundown on Friday evening to sundown on Saturday) as well as on all Jewish holidays – I was instantly intrigued. When I found out he learned to box after moving to Brooklyn from the Ukraine to fight off school bullies, I instantly respected him. And when I watched him dominate Shawn Gallegos to capture the NABA Light Welterweight title in August 2005, I instantly became a fan.

You see, where I come from one can not help but hear about every athlete who just so happens to be Jewish. Never mind if he rides the pine for a D-II basketball team or is a third string CFL right guard. If you’re a Jewish athlete in the public eye, I have probably heard of you. But Salita is the rare 21st Century Jewish athlete who is actually good. In fact, he is 27-0 with 15 knockouts kind of good!

However, the biggest question surrounding the 25-year-old Salita is when is he fighting next? His last fight (a unanimous decision win over Grover Wiley) was almost ten months ago. Prior to 2007, he fought at least three times a year and sometimes up to six. So, why did he just fight once last year? And why doesn’t he have any upcoming fights lined up?

Things started to make sense when news broke that Salita and promoter Lou DiBella were cutting ties effective immediately. That was my cue to reach out to Salita and find out why he hasn’t fought since last March and what the future holds for his budding career.


Dmitriy Salita – 01/10/08

(For more on Salita be sure to check out Jason Hutt’s tremendous documentary entitled “Orthodox Stance.”)

  1. 8 Responses to “Dmitriy Salita Moves On To Bigger And Better”

  2. My friends always talk about this cat but I have yet to see him fight (save for a couple of youtube vids). Dropping DiBella is definitely a step in the right direction.

    By YO-C on Jan 10, 2008

  3. Great interview!!! Dimitri is the freshest thing in boxing today, I cant’t wait to see him fight again. he can pack hammerstein on a tuesday without a promoter, alhtough he’s going to need someone in his corner for a vegas fight. What a fighter, what a man.

    By Joe's Left Hook on Jan 10, 2008

  4. this kid is nothing but a joke, he has no guts at all, the real reason y he is no longer with dibella is because the guy doesnt want to fight anyone with a pulse and dibella got sick of salita constantly not approving opponents (such as edgar santana)which is just 1 example. so please stop with the articles on the guy about how good he is with his huge padded record filled with nobodies.FIGHT SOMEONE REAL SALITA PLEASE SO U CAN SHOW EVERYONE HOW HORRIBLE U REALLY ARE

    By kid ko on Jan 11, 2008

  5. Santana lost in June and while he did win his next fight I believe that would have been a step back for Salita. So, if he did turn it down I can understand why. The guy has beat everyone put in front of him. Whether you consider those opponents to be true tests is your opinion and it is surely valid. However, let’s wait before we start calling him horrible, overrated etc.

    By Ariel Helwani on Jan 11, 2008

  6. kid ko is right. How long do we have to wait for this guy to fight someone with a pulse? Heck, I have been hearing about this kid being the second coming of Maxie Rosenbloom for years now. This guy is more protected than Amir Khan. I am jewish too but you don’t see me all over this kid’s jock.

    By scott diamond on Jan 12, 2008

  7. I never implied that he was the second coming of “Sugar” Ray Robinson or any like that. I said he was 27-0 but hasn’t fought in almost a year and we need to see more of him. That’s it.

    Sure he hasn’t been completely tested but he has defeated everyone put in front of him. Hopefully ’08 will answer more questions.

    By Ariel Helwani on Jan 12, 2008

  8. Dmitriy Salita is awesome. He is a dedicated bover, devout Jew and a sports figure that young people can look up to. He will someday be a world champ.

    Sincerely & Respectfully,
    Manny Blanco
    masontruth@aol.com

    By Manny Blanco on Aug 11, 2008

  1. 1 Trackback(s)

  2. Feb 26, 2008: Jarry Park - The Coliseum Of Combat Sports » Blog Archive » The Second Coming Of The Star Of David

Post a Comment