Yuri Foreman

Yuri Foreman was born in 1980 in Gomel

Foreman was born in Gomel, then in the Soviet Union and now in Belarus. He was a swimmer at first, and his mother enrolled him in boxing at age 7 after he was bullied. At age 9 he immigrated to Israel with his family.

In Israel he trained at an Arab gym and won 3 national amateur championships. In 1999 he moved to Brooklyn to pursue a professional career, working deliveries in Manhattan while training at Gleason's Gym. He won the New York Golden Gloves in 2001 and finished his amateur career with a 75-5 record.

In December 2007 he won the NABF super welterweight title from Andrey Tsurkan. On November 14, 2009, he beat Daniel Santos to become WBA super welterweight champion, the first Israeli world boxing champion. He lost the title to Miguel Cotto on June 5, 2010, at Yankee Stadium after injuring his right knee during the fight.

After knee surgery he lost to Pawel Wolak in March 2011, then returned with wins in 2013. Alongside boxing he studied Talmud and Jewish mysticism under Rabbi DovBer Pinson, and he was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in 2014. He began teaching boxing at Gleason's Gym in 2020.