"When I get into the ring, I come in wearing tzitzit. I immediately inspect the four corners of the ring and say Shema Yisrael at each one. Even before that, I say a few psalms," he explains. In the days before he has bouts, he says, he tries to "focus more on my davening" and makes a donation to charity in whatever city he's in, "so that with God's help, I don't get injured and my opponent does not get hurt, and I will win."
It just missed working against the more experienced Russian, who won on points in a very close fight, according to Cogan, and the top Thai fighter who visited Israel, with Ben-Hamo losing on points there, too. Now he wants another chance.
HE ADMITS it's been a different kind of learning experience than the one he takes on at yeshiva. "The first time you're in a bout, you feel pressured, like all the lights are on you, people are yelling your name... There's the announcer and you're all nervous - you don't know what will be, if you'll succeed... But then you go through a few fights, see there's no problem and it becomes like a training session... no pressure, and it's fun." .....
Says Cogan: "He stays the same Uriel - the same yeshiva boy... humble. He doesn't let the national titles or trips or interviews go to his head."
What does Ben-Hamo so enjoy about the sport? "The elbows, the dangerous knee blows... sometimes there are knockouts. People just take a hit and go to sleep... I've already delivered one like that in Ra'anana. It's fun, but afterward I went over and asked his forgiveness, because it was a fellow Jew. If it had been the Russian, I wouldn't have asked forgiveness," he says with a laugh.
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