WASHINGTON, July 17 (RIA Novosti) – Odessa-born professional boxer Dmitriy Salita is the subject of a short film that recently debuted online at nyorkers.com as part of a series of shorts about New Yorkers.
In the film Salita, who immigrated to the United States with his family in 1991, discusses his career, his discovery of Orthodox Judaism after fleeing persecution in Ukraine and how it affects him as an athlete. “Since there are not a lot of Jewish athletes, I definitely feel pressure,” Salita says in the documentary. “It’s irresponsible to say that you don’t feel pressure.”
Salita, who also goes by the name “Star of David,” won a bronze medal for the US at the 1998 Junior Olympics held in Moscow and won the New York Golden Gloves in the 139 pound (63.04kg) open category in 2001. He turned professional that same year and has since won 35 fights with 1 loss and 1 draw according to boxrec.com.
NYorkers // Dmitriy Salita from NYorkers on Vimeo.
