Most kids in Israel who dream of being athletes go into soccer, maybe basketball, but Tomer Benny, 19, who was born and raised in northern Tel Aviv, sat down a few years ago at age 13 with his father to watch a film about Mike Tyson and decided that all he wanted to do in life was to be a professional boxer.
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Since then he has entered the arena, fallen in love with the victories, even with the punches he took, and is now about to sign his first professional contract, perhaps on the way to a glorious career after grueling work with his trainer Adam Hadad who has been with him since March 2022 and strength coach Yigal Lev.
"Everyone initially opposed it, except for my first trainer Mickey Newman," he recounts in a conversation with Israel Hayom. "My friends mocked me, told me I'm not built for this. The parents tried to bribe me. My dad told me 'I'll give you money for three ski vacations on condition that you quit this.' My mom can't come to the fights to this day not just because she doesn't want to see me getting hit, but because it even pains her to see me hitting others. Today the friends who laughed are complimenting me and waiting for me to climb up the ladder."
Q: Tell me a bit about yourself. When did you leave Israel? What have you achieved so far?
"These days I'm in the process of moving from Israel to Vegas. I was granted outstanding athlete status in the army [which allows deferment of service]. I've won six Israeli championships over the recent years across all age brackets including adults. I train six days a week, two sessions each day with the goal of building myself up. Recently I participated in a special event in Germany marking 50 years since the Munich massacre and finished in first place. I had prepared myself for the European championship that took place in November but due to the war, they didn't let us out [from Israel] so all those plans were ruined for me. Additionally, I was recently invited to train by Jamel Herring, a former world champion making a comeback at age 38 and trying to reclaim the world champion title. He trains with my coach Wayne McCullough and now he's trying to nurture young prospects starting out, so he saw me and offered me my first professional contract."
Q: What is your immediate goal and what is the long-term goal?
"The immediate goal is really to sign a professional contract as a prospect, which is someone they believe is young up-and-coming talent and ultimately a contender for the belt. This contract will allow me to get an athlete's visa much faster and the goal is to already have my first fight in a couple of months. Over the next three years, I need to compete in a number of fights per year, rack up as many wins with knockouts as possible so people take notice of me and invite me to more and more events. The fact that I'm Israeli can really help me because we're always in the headlines, and event organizers know it can bring ratings. If we compare my path to a singer's career, for example, I'm at the stage where I'm doing the opening act for big singers, with the goal of one day being in the main event."
Q: You've been mostly in the US in recent months. How hard is it to be in another country while Israel is at war?
"Very hard. I was in Vegas on October 7. Initially, we didn't know what was happening, we thought it was something routine and then we got the videos of the rockets in Sderot and it was terrible. The day after that I had a fight in Vegas and for the first time in my life, I went into the ring not with the desire to win, but just to wave the Israeli flag. I won, waved the flag, and was also named the outstanding fighter of the event. I felt really bad that everyone in Israel was suffering, but I knew there wasn't much I could do besides do my thing."
Q: What does your coach Wayne say about the criticism against Israel? Do you talk about it?
"Wayne comes from Northern Ireland and there are many differing views there. They're very divided in their views, there are entire areas that are separated by walls, there are different Christian denominations. While there are streams that are pro-Palestinian, there are those who think the exact opposite and that's also how Wayne and his family view it. His mother-in-law has an Israeli flag hanging at home and they see a big similarity between us and them, after the history they have with the IRA, who carried out countless terror attacks."
Q: How physically and mentally difficult is this sport really?
"This sport is the most difficult in the world from every aspect. Physically, the punches you take aren't the problem, you recover from those. The problem starts when you don't feel anything and then you realize you're completely out of it and on your way to losing. Mentally it's not simple either, because unlike a team sport where you experience a loss or victory with your friends, here you're alone."
When I ask Benny if he's not scared, he answers honestly that there's no such thing. "I'm constantly scared but fear protects you, warns you, and puts you on alert. I'm not scared of getting hit, the only time I broke my nose for example was when I was surfing. I often think about IDF soldiers in combat. Soldiers are probably scared to fight in Gaza, I'm sure, but they rise above the fear and get into readiness mode."
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