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.”
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.
