{"id":499423,"date":"2026-02-23T19:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T19:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/499423\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T19:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T19:36:11","slug":"idf-soldiers-in-gaza-watched-the-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/499423\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018IDF soldiers in Gaza watched the fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Less than 48 hours after his emphatic knockout victory<\/a> in Lithuania, Ahavat Gordon landed in Israel on Monday morning and was welcomed as a national hero.<\/p>\n

The Israeli fighter held a special press conference amid widespread excitement over his latest achievement.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

4 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05d0\u05d4\u05d1\u05ea<\/a>\"\u05d0\u05d4\u05d1\u05ea<\/p>\n

Ahavat Gordon, draped in Israeli flag, welcomed home as national hero <\/p>\n

(Photo: Dana Kopel)<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is from G-d,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cEspecially since the fight was against a Turkish opponent who is antisemitic, this whole week was crazy. This is the moment I\u2019ve been waiting for my entire life. If I had let everything that was happening get into my head, it would have thrown me off balance and I would have stopped this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about the Turkish rival he defeated, Gordon said: \u201cI always try to avoid bringing politics into sports. The moment he brought it in, there was no turning back. I\u2019m glad I showed the whole world that the people of Israel are strong. It\u2019s incredible and it\u2019s a privilege. I gave strength and showed that a Jewish Israeli can step into the ring wearing a kippah and tzitzit and not hide who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid I receive antisemitic responses about this fight? Yes, absolutely,\u201d he added. \u201cNot only me, but my family also did. I also heard about incidents in the crowd. We\u2019re doing what we need to do, and we\u2019re doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

4 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05d0\u05d4\u05d1\u05ea<\/a>\"\u05d0\u05d4\u05d1\u05ea<\/p>\n

I received antisemitic responses about this fight<\/p>\n

(Photo: Dana Kopel)<\/p>\n

Watch Gordon’s victory<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of ONE)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gordon said the most moving messages he received were from IDF soldiers. \u201cSoldiers who watched the fight in Gaza, it moved me almost to tears,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have nothing more to say to the Turkish opponent. There was anger and everything. I asked him why he wrote what he wrote and told him not to do it again. I do respect him for stepping into the ring because that takes a lot, but beyond that I don\u2019t respect him.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Gordon knocked out Turkish fighter Ali Koyuncu at the Lithuanian UTMA 17 event, in a bout that drew significant media attention even before it began. The contest was held under Muay Thai rules using MMA gloves, a combination that promised an aggressive, fast-paced fight, which is exactly what it was.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

4 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05d0\u05d4\u05d1\u05ea<\/a>\"\u05d0\u05d4\u05d1\u05ea<\/p>\n

“If you have a dream, don’t let anyone bring you down<\/p>\n

(Photo: Dana Kopel)<\/p>\n

The victory keeps Gordon\u2019s professional record perfect at 11-0, further cementing his status as one of the most prominent talents to emerge from Israel\u2019s combat sports scene in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe event stopped being purely professional the moment he attacked me at the face-off,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cIt only showed me that I was in control of the event, because a ‘barking dog is a frightened dog’.\u201d<\/p>\n

In conclusion, Gordon said: \u201cMy message to young people who want to succeed is that if you have a dream, don\u2019t let anyone bring you down. Stay focused and believe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Less than 48 hours after his emphatic knockout victory in Lithuania, Ahavat Gordon landed in Israel on Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-499423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}