Dmitri Sarita breaks barriers as an Orthodox Jewish boxing promoter

boxing

by Jared Schwartz

Dmitry Salita's unexpected rise in the boxing world was certainly anything but ordinary.

But Sarita believes her story perfectly encapsulates the American dream.

“Boxing saved my life,” Sarita told the Post. “Working hard allows a person to climb the ladder of success and ultimately succeed. To me, that is the essence of America.”

Currently, 42-year-old Sarita runs a fast-growing promotion company called Sarita Promotions. He has assembled an impressive group of fighters. His most notable was Claressa Shields, the first undisputed boxer, male or female, to compete in two different weight classes. Sarita Promotions also promotes a number of highly rated prospects and candidates, including Shojahon Ergashev, Jarrell Miller, Jermaine Franklin, and Vladimir Sistkin.

And earlier this year, Sarita Promotions inked its first multi-event television deal, signing with DAZN to produce a regularly scheduled card series in Detroit called “Big Time Boxing USA.”

The next card takes place on Thursday night.

But there was a time when Sarita had nothing, and his current reality was just a distant dream.

Sarita was born in Odessa, Ukraine, but immigrated to the United States with her family as a child in 1991 to escape anti-Semitic persecution.

They settled in Flatbush, Brooklyn, where Sarita, her father, mother, brother, and grandmother shared a one-bedroom apartment. They came with $300 and no ability to speak English.

From there, boxing offered Sarita a path to success.

Four years after arriving in Brooklyn, Sarita joined the Starrett City Boxing Club, run by the famous Jimmy O'Fallow. It was located in the basement of a parking lot and had no running water, toilets, air conditioning, or heating.

But Sarita had the opportunity to train with future world champions such as Zab Judah, Luis Collazo, Sadam Ali and Danny Jacobs.

“Connecting with boxing, getting better at boxing and loving boxing gave me an outlet and a vision to get out of my ghetto,” Sarita said. “…That fire and the fuel to get out of that environment served a great purpose.”

At the same time, when Sarita was 14, he discovered Chabad Lubavitch and slowly grew more committed to Orthodox Judaism. He had a successful amateur career, winning the U.S. National Championship and the New York Golden Gloves at Madison Square Garden.

He refused to play the match on the Sabbath and was disqualified until the tournament agreed to allow him to play the match on another day. He fought with a Star of David on his trunk.

Sarita found few people around her who looked like her or belonged to the same community.

But boxing was his comfort zone.

He turned professional in 2001 and signed with legendary promoter Bob Arum. He went on to win the WBF World title at welterweight, the IBF and WBA International titles, along with the NABA light welterweight title.

He finished with a record of 35-2-1.

“Those two things sparked opposing energies in me in a way,” Sarita said. “The boxing culture and the Chabad culture, which talks about using your talents and using your place in the world to make the world a better place.”

Throughout her career, Sarita received a lot of hate for her identity as an Orthodox Jew. It was not uncommon for him to be vilified after games.

But he has never experienced what he has endured over the past few months.

“Certainly, what is happening today is incomprehensible to me,” Sarita said. “I have never experienced the level of anti-Semitism that the public tolerates to such an extent. For me, it is very difficult to accept and understand.”

“You have to look within yourself and think about what you can do to better yourself and those around you. I grew up in a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn, and I grew up fighting. Now, When I walk down the street, I feel like I have to look left and sometimes right to make sure I'm safe. And I've never felt that way. It's actually pretty sad. is”

Still, Sarita believes sport can be used as a bond and boxing can bring people together.

And he still has a lot left to give to boxing.

Big Time Boxing USA, with many of its competitors fighting on its cards, provides up-and-coming prospects with a platform to grow their reputations and fan bases and make a name for themselves, just as Sarita himself once did. The purpose is to

At Sarita Promotions, we understand that boxing is undergoing a 'renaissance' and are always looking for new avenues and mediums to tell our fighters' stories and build our brands. In an era where the best boxers often avoid each other, Sarita is determined to do the opposite.

“I grew up boxing. It's a sport I love,” Sarita said. “I've dedicated most of my life to boxing. I grew up in New York and first started promoting my own fights. It was a very slow process of attracting top talent and building networking relationships. We've progressed because of the talent I've been able to find and develop. I'm happy and grateful that people have taken notice.”

“I'm a very ambitious person. I have to strive for the biggest thing. When I started boxing as a kid, I wanted to be the best boxer in the world. And I… I worked hard for that, and I believe my boxing career was my education. There's no number one promoter in boxing. There are some number ones, but they're all over the place. It varies. But I'm certainly working toward that goal.”