Saturday, February 18, 2006
Brotherly bond unites Hasidic boxer, black manager
The hometown fighter climbs into the ring to the thumping bass of Matisyahu, the Hasidic reggae singer. Orthodox Jewish men in black suits with long beards and unlit cigars bounce and chant to the rhythm.
"Dima!"
"Dima!"
"Dima!"
"Dima" is Dmitriy Salita, a 23-year-old super lightweight from Brooklyn, by way of Odessa, Ukraine. He is also a Hasidic Jew.
He is 5 foot 9, and officially 143 1/4 pounds, with close-cropped brown hair and an unscarred alabaster face. His robe is black silk with white lettering: "Dmitriy 'Star of David' Salita."
It's a Thursday night. There's more money in a Friday night fight _ live TV and bigger crowds. But Salita doesn't fight on the Sabbath.
The Manhattan Center is packed anyway. Fans from Brownsville, Brooklyn, have come for Curtis Stevens, a hard-hitting middleweight backed by the hip-hop money of producer Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo and his brother Chris. Fans from Spanish Harlem are here for Edgar "El Chamaco" Santana, also fighting on the under card. They all mingle with the Orthodox crowd. They all scream for Dima.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--hasidicboxer0218feb18,0,4388870.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
The hometown fighter climbs into the ring to the thumping bass of Matisyahu, the Hasidic reggae singer. Orthodox Jewish men in black suits with long beards and unlit cigars bounce and chant to the rhythm.
"Dima!"
"Dima!"
"Dima!"
"Dima" is Dmitriy Salita, a 23-year-old super lightweight from Brooklyn, by way of Odessa, Ukraine. He is also a Hasidic Jew.
He is 5 foot 9, and officially 143 1/4 pounds, with close-cropped brown hair and an unscarred alabaster face. His robe is black silk with white lettering: "Dmitriy 'Star of David' Salita."
It's a Thursday night. There's more money in a Friday night fight _ live TV and bigger crowds. But Salita doesn't fight on the Sabbath.
The Manhattan Center is packed anyway. Fans from Brownsville, Brooklyn, have come for Curtis Stevens, a hard-hitting middleweight backed by the hip-hop money of producer Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo and his brother Chris. Fans from Spanish Harlem are here for Edgar "El Chamaco" Santana, also fighting on the under card. They all mingle with the Orthodox crowd. They all scream for Dima.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--hasidicboxer0218feb18,0,4388870.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
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