Top 5 Jewish-Canadian Boxers

I was recently asked to contribute a guest post for the Jewish Boxing Blog. I subscribe to the newsletter and follow it on Twitter and Instagram, where I always learn interesting new content. I highly recommend supporting David by buying him a coffee here, which will give you lifetime access to the weekly newsletter. 

My task for the post was to compile a list of the top five Jewish-Canadian boxers. I already had a few names in mind, but I needed to research to complete my list. To do so, I used my invaluable coffee table book, Stars in the Ring by Mike Silver, which contains pretty much the entire history of Jewish boxing. I always enjoy researching and learning new facts about boxing history, especially Jewish fighters, so this was a fun exercise. 

You can find my list here and I have also included it below with additional facts about each boxer:  

1. Maxie Berger

• Hometown: Montreal

• Career: 1935-1946

• Record: 98-23-9-1 NC

• Highlights:

  • Canadian lightweight champion

  • Fought 6 Hall of Famers: Sugar Ray Robinson, Fritzie Zivic, Beau Jack, Midget Wolgast, Ike Williams, and Wesley Ramey. Record against them was 3-6

  • Ranked top-10 welterweight in his prime (#6 in 1940 Ring rankings)

2. Al Foreman

• Hometown: Montreal

• Career: 1920-1933

• Record: 99-20-10-1 ND

• Highlights:

  • Born in the UK, he moved to Canada in 1924 at the age of 20

  • During last four years of his career, he won the Canadian, British, and British Empire lightweight titles

  • Fought 4 Hall of Famers: Petey Sarron, Frank Erne (debut), Johnny Dundee, and Louis (Kid) Kaplan. Record against them was 2-2

3. Sammy Luftspring

• Hometown: Toronto

• Career: 1936-1940

• Record: 32-8

• Highlights:

  • Earned a spot on the 1936 Canadian Olympic team but boycotted the Berlin Games in protest of Germany’s abhorrent treatment of Jews

  • Canadian welterweight champion

  • Ranked top-10 welterweight in his prime (#7 in 1938 Ring rankings)

4. Harry Hurst

• Hometown: Montreal

• Career: 1939-1948

• Record: 47-14-6

• Highlights:

  • Born in the UK, he later moved to Montreal.

  • As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the British Empire Games in 1938

  • Went 0-2 vs. Johnny Greco for the Canadian welterweight title

  • Went 0-1-1 vs. Dave Castilloux for the Canadian lightweight title

  • Lost a decision to Sammy Angott in 1941, the only HOFer he competed against

  • Ranked top-10 lightweight in his prime (#9 in 1941 Ring rankings)

5. Benjamin Norman Yakubowitz (Norman “Baby” Yack)

• Hometown: Toronto

• Career: 1936-1939

• Record: 23-13-1

• Highlights:

  • Went 90-10 as an amateur, which earned him a spot on the 1936 Canadian Olympic team. Like Luftspring, he boycotted the Berlin Games in protest of Germany’s abhorrent treatment of Jews

  • Canadian bantamweight champion

  • Ranked top-10 bantamweight in his prime (#7 in 1937 Ring rankings)

Honorable mentions: Solly Cantor, Benny Gould, Moe Herscovitch, Jackie Phillips, and Curly Wilshur.