By TI-HUA CHANG – FOX 5
Some might call it excess versus hard scrabble. Others proof that timing is everything.
Jonathan Ballan, lead attorney in the financing of the new Yankee Stadium, has booked the stadium of his 13-year-old son’s Bar Mitzvah in June.
That same night the stadium is negotiating to have a World Championship Boxing match for Yuri Foremen, who has a large Orthodox Jewish following.
Foreman, the World Boxing Association’s 154-pound champion, is represented by Bob Arum.
Arum has offered the Bar Mitzvah party to start his fight later the same night, let the kids meet the champ before the fight, and seats to see the match. But negotiations continue.
At Gleason’s gym in Brooklyn where Yuri Foreman trains, one of his corner men says it’s a serious matter for a dangerous fight with a former champion Miguel Cotto.
Fox 5 was not able to reach Ballan for a comment. According to reports, he is in tough negotiations with the boxers. At issue how much to pay for some of that Bar Mitzvah time.
a bar mitzvah is focoused on the mitzvah not the bar part
is 2 hours after shabbos enough time to get from Crown heights to my seat in Yankees Stadium?
The WHOLE stadium for a Bar Mitzvah? Even if they have 5000 guests, what will they do with the WHOLE stadium???
Just curious …
Ye I don’t see Yuri getting knocked out in 76 seconds.
It’s been reported all over the press how he will not fight on shabbos, this such a great message for the non religious kids (and maybe to the bar mitzvah boy.
Yuri “the real deal” Foreman – this guy is for real!
If you read the story it looks like Mr. Arum is trying to work with the Bar mitzvah family. also, it’s not exactly as if there telling the kid not to get an Aliyah – the bar mitzvah is scheduled to start on Shabbos in Yankee stadium – so you can imagine how much of a holy event it will be.
I just went to a pop star mitzvah (Bat Mitzvah). The parents must of spent thousands on this. The girl and her mother were not dressed modest at all, there was a Shvartza DJ, big posters of discusting dressed celebrities and the list goes on
So 4 this boxing bar mitzvah, he is not so far off!
considering that the bar mitzvah is going to be held on shabbos in yankee stadium, who really cares what the outcome is!?
You have a very rich jewish family who wants to make a “Bar Mitzvah” (which is of course a Jewish event) on shaboos, and then you have Yuri Foreman who’s people want him to fight a Boxing match (which a lot of people would say is not so Jewish) but the insist on doing it after Shabbos.
I’m not such a holy Jew but I think there’s a message here….
Does Forman (or Arum, who is also Jewish) really think boxing is more important than a Bar Mitzvah?
Who cares? Let the Baal Simcha use some of the obscene amount of money he’ll spend on this mega-event to pay for the Bar Mitzvah of a Yosem.
Maybe he will! That would be really nice.