Both Duer and Foreman were born on August 5; Duer in ’78 and Foreman two years later. Duer was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a descendent of Syrian Jews. Foreman was born in the Soviet Union, in what is now Belarus. He first immigrated to Israel and then on to Brooklyn, New York in the United States.
Foreman turned pro first, debuting in 2002. A pure boxer with fluid movement, Foreman won his first 28 fights. He beat the likes of Anthony Thompson, Jesus Soto Karass, Jamie Moore, Saul Roman, and Andrey Tsurkan. The later victory earned Foreman the NABF 154-pound title. On November 14, 2009, Foreman knocked down Daniel Santos twice to win the WBA junior middleweight championship. Santos had packed on the pounds after the weigh-in and hit like a light heavyweight, but Yuri thoroughly whupped the reigning champion to become the first and only male Israeli world champion.
Duer turned pro in 2007 and learned on the job. After five fights, she sported a losing record. Duer, nicknamed “La Turca,” went 17-0-1 over her next 18 fights developing an all-action style. She won the South American junior featherweight title, the vacant WBO junior bantamweight world crown, the WBO bantamweight world title, and the IBF bantamweight interim world title during that span. Carolina has a win over the legend Marcela Eliana Acuña.
Foreman’s career-defining fight came against Miguel Cotto at Yankee Stadium on June 5, 2010. After tearing up his knee, Foreman fought on, even after the referee refused to acknowledge Yuri’s corner throwing in the towel. Yuri came out flat against Pawel Wolak in his comeback fight. He retired, but returned to notch six straight wins, all-the-while studying to become a rabbi. He was mentally unprepared when he entered the ring against pound-for-pound star Erislandy Lara. Yuri finished up with two fights this decade, going 1-1. His career record stands at 35-4 with 10 KOs.
Since 2017, Duer went just 1-4-1, but three of those losses were by split decision and three were for world titles. She lost by unanimous decision to legend Mariana Juarez in Juarez’s hometown. Duer’s last fight came in 2023, a disputed decision loss to Gabriella Bouvier. Her record is 20-7-2 with 6 KOs.
Yuri Foreman and Carolina Duer are the undisputed king and queen of Jewish boxing in the 21st century. Malissa Smith rated Duer as one of the five best Jewish women boxers of all-time. Evgheni Boico ranked Foreman as the best Jewish Israeli boxer ever, and Mike Silver had Foreman in the top ten Jewish boxers since 1960.
It is extremely fitting, that these two champions, sharing the same birthday, enter the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame together. Mazel tov to them both.
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