Boxing Jews

A Jewish Sport

One of the most vicious bigotries perpetuated in the United States by movie producers was and is the lie that Jews are patsies who cannot and will not defend themselves because they cannot fight even to save their lives.

That moronic lie was proved wrong when in 1967 the Jews of Israel defeated six Arab armies, including Egypt, a country with 80 million citizens.

Much earlier, American Jews had already demonstrated that Jews can and will indeed fight, as the Jew, Max Baer, wearing a Jewish star on his trunks, defeated Max Schmeling, the German heavyweight boxer, to the consternation of Hitler and the German superman.

Baer was not the only Jewish boxer to demonstrate exceptional boxing ability.  There were Barney Ross, Benny Leonard, Maxie Rosenbloom, and numerous other outstanding boxers who were inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Most important is the achievement of Daniel Mendoza, who was born in England in 1764 but is largely forgotten today. Mendoza was 5’7” feet tall and weighed 160 pounds. He won 31 out of 37 fights in the eighteenth century against much heavier opponents because he invented “scientific” boxing. Before him, boxers had no particular technique. They merely stood facing one another and punched each other without gloves and without any training. Mendoza changed all that, because he demonstrated how to win over numerous larger men by using techniques called “ring strategy,” leading to methods unknown before him. The use of strategies and “scientific” boxing increased public interest until organized crime ruined the sport by using threats and bribes to let inferior boxers “win.”

Today boxing is no longer popular, as many “victors” and losers both agreed to Mafia manipulated outcomes.  This made winning unreliable and subject  to brutal violence.

Shalom u’vracha.

  Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications, including The American Jewish Community in the 20th and 21st Century (2021).

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