Name	Roccaraso
Official name	Comune di Roccaraso
Image shield	Roccaraso-Stemma.png
Coordinates type	region:IT_type:city(1672)
Coordinates display	title
Region
Province	(AQ)
Frazioni	Aremogna, Pietransieri
Area total km2	50.00
Population total	1672
Population as of	1 January 2007
Population demonym	Roccolani
Elevation m	1236
Saint	Sant'Ippolito
Day	13 August
Postal code	67037
Area code	0864
Website

Roccaraso is a town and comune of the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central Italy.

Notes and references

External links

Inside Abruzzo: Insider Tips Uncovered

Roccaraso

The news and tourist site, EcoDelSangro.it

Category:Cities and towns in Abruzzo

Name	Dmitry Salita
Realname	Dmitry Aleksandrovich Lekhtman
Nickname	Star of David
Caption	Dmitry Salita with ring announcer David Diamante
Weight	Junior welterweight
Nationality	United States
Birth date	April 04, 1982
Birth place	Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Style	Orthodox
Total	35
Wins	33
Losses	1
Draws	1
No contests	0
Ko	17

Dmitry Salita (; ; "Star of David"; born April 4, 1982) is a Ukrainian-born Jewish-American boxer from Brooklyn, New York in the welterweight division.

He has a 30–1–1 record, with 16 KOs. He is , and his reach is 69".

He is a practicing Orthodox Jew, and became so after he moved to Brooklyn. He does not fight on the Sabbath or Jewish holidays and follows Jewish dietary laws.

Early life

Born in Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Odessa, Ukraine) as Dmitry Aleksandrovich Lekhtman, Salita was five years old when he saw his first boxing match. "It was Mike Tyson, and I remember dancing around my room that night imitating the moves", he recalled. Salita moved with his family to Flatbush, Brooklyn, at the age of nine because of the escalating violence against Jews in Ukraine.

In New York, classmates picked on Salita in school. He said, “When I first started going to school, I had the clothes that I wore over in Russia. I used to get made fun of because of it, and the fact that I didn’t speak English. I had to learn how to defend myself. I got involved in karate, and as time went on my brother brought me to a boxing club. That is how it all started. I got called into the principal's office. I got suspended a few times, but I got my respect. I started kicking some ass at school.”

Boxing career

Salita started boxing at the age of 13 at the Starrett City Boxing Club, which is run by Jimmy O'Pharrow.

He followed that up by becoming U.S. national under 19 champion at the U.S. Amateur under 19 Championships in Gulfport, Mississippi.

At the 2001 New York Golden Gloves, he won the championship at 139 pounds. Salita won the finals on April 5, 2001, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Bill Farrell of the New York Daily News reported, “In a bout that lived up to all its expectations, Dmitriy Salita battled past Joey Rios to win the Golden Gloves 139-pound open title last night at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. The 3–2 decision won by Salita in as fine a boxing match ever staged in the Golden Gloves finals earned Salita the Sugar Ray Robinson Award as the outstanding boxer in the tournament. Salita, who is as talented as they come, got into his rhythm midway through Round 2, and finally took control of the bout to earn the decision and a pair of Golden Gloves.”

Salita remained in contention for a junior welterweight title bout, extending his unbeaten streak to 28, with a unanimous 10-round decision over Grover Wiley at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York in March 2007. Salita staggered Wiley (30–9–1) with a series of body punches in the 7th round.

In May 2009 he scored a dominant 10-round shutout victory over Raul "El Toro" Munoz (20–12–1, 15 KOs) in Las Vegas for his 30th win. "Salita wobbled Munoz with a barrage of power shots. An uppercut flush under the chin awakened a startled Munoz, who somehow found his way back to the middle of the ring", noted distinguished boxing reporter Albert Howell.

Recent bouts and the future

Salita lost to WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan on December 5, 2009. Khan knocked out Salita in 76 seconds, knocking him down three times in the first round to defend his world title, shattering Salita's dreams of a world title. Salita credited Khan's superior hand speed as the reason for being knocked down. "He has very quick hands. I didn't see the punches coming". Salita was criticized before the fight for not having fought difficult competition while racking up an undefeated record. Salita made a comeback on September 1, 2010, fighting as a junior middleweight, winning an eight round unanimous decision over Franklin Gonzalez at Oceana Hall in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York. After the Gonzalez bout, former world champion Paul Malignaggi entered the ring to congratulate Salita and propose a bout between the two of them in the very near future.

On April 13, 2011, Dmitriy Salita (33-1-1, 17 KOs) scored an eight round unanimous decision victory over Ronnie Warrior Jr. (13-5-1, 4 KOs) at the Oceana ballroom in Brooklyn, New York.

It was Salita’s third fight in only eight months and he came through in front of the hometown crowd, aggressive from the first bell, controlling the bout and show casing his superior fighting skills. On the offensive for most of the eight rounds he forced his left-handed opponent to adopt a defensive stance, while using his greater reach and speed to his advantage. The Brooklyn native put on a clinic by outmatching his opponent on all levels.

One frightening moment came in the final round when Salita sustained a nasty gash over his left eye after a head butt from Warrior. But the “Star of David” had the final say with many devoted fans and supporters cheering him on as he pulled out of the last round with a well deserved victory.

Family

His mother, Lyudmila, originally opposed her son's boxing, but eventually became an enthusiastic supporter. She died in January 1999, after a two-year battle with breast cancer. When she was hospitalized, Salita divided his time between James Madison High School, the Starrett gym, and Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital. He said, “I’d spend the night sleeping in a chair at the hospital and wake up to do my roadwork.”

Promoter Bob Arum said, “If he's as good as it appears he is, and he can be held up as an example of religious devotion to both Jews and gentiles, he'll be a great attraction.”

Movies

Orthodox Stance, a documentary directed by Jason Hutt about Salita's career to date (2007) and his life as an Orthodox Jew, received its world premiere at the 2007 Silverdocs Documentary Festival and had its second showing and West Coast premiere at the 2007 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival as part of an evening devoted to Jewish boxers. Both Salita and director Hutt participated in a panel discussion following the presentation. Orthodox Stance received Best Documentary Film honors at the 2008 London Jewish Cultural Awards.

He was offered a small role in the HBO boxing movie, Infamous, as a fighter who loses a match against the film's protagonist, played by John Leguizamo. Salita turned down the part. "It was tempting, but if I did that, a lot of people who never saw me fight would see me lose."

Endorsement deal

In 2009 Salita signed a deal to represent ARTHUR, a French based Homewear company.

Television

On November 20, 2009 he appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly showing a video of himself boxing.

See also

List of select Jewish boxers

References

External links

Dmitry Salita's official website

Category:1982 births Category:2008 films Category:American boxers Category:American documentary films Category:American Orthodox Jews Category:Baalei teshuva Category:Jewish American sportspeople Category:Jewish boxers Category:Jewish documentary films Category:Living people Category:Lightweights Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:Sportspeople from Brooklyn Category:People from Odessa Category:Ukrainian immigrants to the United States Category:Ukrainian Orthodox Jews