He is only the latest in a long line of boxers to have found inner strength in profound religious belief.
But Dmitriy Salita, the orthodox Jew who fights Britain’s Amir Khan on Saturday, is, by his own admission, an unlikely contender for the World Boxing Association light-welterweight title.
Born into an educated family in Ukraine when it was still part of the Soviet Union, the 27-year-old moved as a child to New York where he was to embrace the ring and religion with equal enthusiasm.
“It is hard to give an answer to why I started boxing so seriously,” he said. “Russian Jewish immigrants always made their way in education and business. I am doing it a different way and it transpired through boxing. My desire to accomplish something is through boxing.”
“My father and mother both got masters degrees. My brother has two masters degrees and is a teacher. I am at school part-time and we’ll see whether I go to university to catch up. I have a few more years in the school of hard knocks first,” Salita said.
Salita has already absorbed his fair share of blows, in and out of the ring.
The family’s departure from Ukraine was triggered by an upsurge in anti-semitism and, having arrived in Brooklyn at the age of nine, Salita took up boxing so he could stand up to the bullies who had used his limited English and unfashionable clothes as an excuse to pick on him.
Salita’s teenage years were further marred by the loss of his mother who died when he was 16 after a battle with breast cancer.
It was while his mother was ill that Salita began to immerse himself in religion, becoming observant of Jewish law and starting to attend synagogue on a regular basis.
As his faith became more serious, so did his boxing and he has earned himself his shot at Khan by going unbeaten through 31 professional fights since he left the amateur ranks in 2001, a solitary draw the only blemish on his record.
Because of his beliefs, Salita does not train or box on the Sabbath, a restriction that does not affect him so much now that he can schedule his fights for after sundown on Saturdays but was a significant impediment to his amateur career.
“I wouldn’t go to the world championships in Hungary because I wouldn’t fight on the Sabbath,” he recalled.
“I definitely wouldn’t have fought Amir if it was going to take place on the Friday. I will never compromise my beliefs. Never. Boxing is such a big part of my life, but it won’t get in the way of my religion,” he said.
Salita is a keen student of boxing history and is aware of the success of British Jewish boxers like Ted Kid Lewis and Jack Kid Berg, both world champions before the Second World War, as well as 18th-century bare-knuckle champion Daniel Mendoza.
“Daniel Mendoza was one of the inventors of modern boxing and the first Jew to meet the King. Jews were a force in boxing many years ago and I am fighting in their spirit,” he said.
In Khan, Salita will be fighting a practising Muslim, but he insists that will have no bearing on the bout.
“This fight has got nothing to do with our different religions,” he insisted. “My job is to win and to kick Amir’s ass. In terms of all the other issues I’ve 100 per cent respect for him in and out of the ring.”
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