Thursday, 6 June 2019

When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport


A New York City attorney with his own private practice, Allen Bodner has spearheaded extensive litigation in areas ranging from general corporate law to limited partnerships and real estate issues. In addition to his accomplishments as an attorney, Allen Bodner authored the 2011 book When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport.

Published by Excelsior Editions, When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport takes a close look at boxing as an important component of American culture, specifically focusing on the evolution of the sport between 1910 and 1940, when 26 Jewish boxers became world champions. The book offers an in-depth examination of the leading role that Jewish people have taken in the boxing world as well as the prominent place that boxing has held in Jewish culture. It also analyzes Jewish boxing themes in literature and the natural appeal of boxing among recent Jewish immigrants. 

The late Hollywood writer Budd Schulberg contributed the foreword to When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport. The author of the screenplay On the Waterfront and the novels What Makes Sammy Run? and The Harder They Fall, Mr. Schulberg praised When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport as a “work of devoted research” and a “labor of love.”