ESPN on the Boxer Rabbi

ESPN’s award-winning primetime newsmagazine E:60 told the unusual story of undefeated world champion and future rabbi Yuri Foreman in the episode that aired tonight.

It’s an old story, kind of. A penniless immigrant finds his way to America, wins fame and fortune in the boxing ring and marries a model. But as E:60’s Jeremy Schaap reports, this is a story with a twist.

Foreman is in training for his first title defense, against three-time world champion and the pride or Puerto Rico Miguel Cotto.

Cotto vs. Foreman will headline “Stadium Slugfest” — the inaugural brawl at Yankee Stadium, Saturday, June 5. It will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10:15 p.m. ET / 7:15 p.m. PT.

Foreman (28-0, 8 KOs), a 29-year-old from Brooklyn, NY, became the first orthodox Jew to win a world championship in nearly 75 years. Born in Gomel, Belarus, and raised in Israel, Foreman eventually emigrated to Brooklyn.

The 2001 New York Golden Gloves Champion turned pro in 2002 and began studying to become a rabbi three years ago.

Foreman knocked down defending champion Daniel Santos in the final round of their November 2009 rumble in Las Vegas (ironically on the undercard of Pacquiao-Cotto) en route to a decisive and unanimous decision victory while becoming Israel’s first world champion fighter.

Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, has held a world title every year since 2004 and will be looking to extend that streak with his challenge of Foreman.