Motzi Spakov, eleven-time amateur heavyweight champion of Rumania, today made public his reasons for renouncing the title which he had successfully defended on September 5 to the accompaniment of the crowd’s shouts, “We want Jewish Blood.”
In a letter to the Rumanian Boxing Federation, the Jewish fighter, who had to be rescued from the anti-Semitic crowd at the conclusion of the match, declared:
“The reasons which prompted me to surrender the title and withdraw from the ring are, strange as this may seem in a fighter, of a purely sentimental nature.
“I, who fought with all my heart for Rumanian boxing in France, Poland and other countries, am no longer considered as a physical, genuine Rumanian in my own fatherland. Against that I can no longer fight.
“As much as I regret it, I renounce the title and wish that my successor may defend the Rumanian flag with the same enthusiasm that I have for the last nine years.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
