The following excerpt is from ROUND1 magazine (Fall 2006, Iss.1, Vol.1), written by Brian Adams.

In today’s world where African Americans and Latinos dominate the sport of boxing,  eighty-year-old trainer Jimmy O’Pharrow (owner, Starrett City Boxing Club) has found not one but two throwbacks—Light Heavyweight William Rosinsky (Italian and Irish) and Jr. Welterweight Dmitri Salita (Jewish) who have been good enough to be among the best.  Back in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, the ‘sweet science’ had tons of Irish, Italian, and Jewish competitors. • Jimmy O started a young boxer with orange dreadlocks named Shannon Briggs with the basics of boxing and he went on to become the Linear Heavyweight champion of the world. The new breed of Rosinsky (who went on to win two NY Golden Glove titles and a U.S. national championship) and Salita (who too won two NY Golden Glove titles and is currently among the top 10 in the professional ranks) look to prove to the world that race does not matter—skills do. With the proper guidance from a true old-school genius like Jimmy O, Rosinsky and Salita could very well remind boxing fans of the early days.

Photos by Nicholas Strini

>> Check out the ‘Fight Party!’ pics from the 2008 NY Daily News Golden Gloves, Madison Square Garden, NYC. Enjoy! (Photos by Christy Cappillino 4/17-18/08.)