David Malul Brings His Story to Atlantic City on Saturday Night

Undefeated welterweight David Malul makes his Atlantic City debut on Saturday, June 13, when he faces Julius Thomas of Youngstown, Ohio, in a four round bout at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. The fight is part of a seven bout card promoted by Boxing Insider Promotions, headlined by undefeated South Jersey heavyweights Bruce Seldon Jr. and Josh Popper.

Malul, 23, of Jamaica, Queens, enters at 4-0 with 2 knockouts. It is his first professional fight outside New York.

“I’m excited that I got this opportunity. I’ve been only dreaming about an opportunity like this,” Malul told Boxing Insider this week. “We’ve been training hard, so the results have spoken in training, and now it’s time to just put it to work.”

From a Coma to a Pro Career

Malul’s path to Saturday includes a detail few prospects can claim. He says he spent time in a coma roughly two years before turning professional.

“When I was about 20 years old, 21 years old, I was in a coma,” Malul said. “The fact that I’m 23 years old, I have a fight in Atlantic City, just years after being in a coma, is everything I can ask for. The only thing that got me here is God and my hard work. All the rounds, all the training that I’ve been through, all the blood I put in, tears, I’m just going to let it show on Saturday night.”

His career has tested him from the opening bell. In his September 2024 pro debut against Lucien Hannah at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, New York, Malul was knocked down twice in the first round before stopping Hannah in that same round. He followed with a third round knockout of Zachary Davis and a shutout decision over Shaquille Rushing.

“Not many people have had as few amateur fights as I did. As crazy as the start of the career as I did, with seeing the canvas technically twice in the first round of my first fight, getting two knockouts back to back,” Malul said. “I feel like I’m the hardest worker in the room when it comes to this.”

His most recent outing came last November, a 40-36 sweep of Colin Huntington at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens on a card Malul promoted himself through his own company, King David Promotions. BoxingScene reported that Malul may be the youngest licensed boxing promoter in New York.

Main Street Boxing

Malul trains under Michael Stallete at Main Street Boxing in Pelham Manor, New York, alongside a stable of young professionals he describes as family.

“It started off them being random people in the gym, and now it’s on the way towards just a family,” Malul said. “It’s a bunch of friends beating the crap out of each other, but everyone is very talented. They’re all on their own path. Everyone is progressing, month after month, everyone is getting better, which is the most important. Everyone is young, everyone is hungry. We got some killers the world doesn’t even know about. As soon as we keep going, we keep winning, the world’s going to find out about Main Street soon.”

Fighting After Sundown

Malul is an Orthodox Jew who observes the Sabbath, which runs from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. His bout at the Tropicana is scheduled after sundown to accommodate his observance.

“The reason why we’re fighting Atlantic City is because of it,” Malul said. “We have a good 50, 60 people coming from all over the world for this fight. We usually sell 300, 400 tickets, but being that this fight is in Atlantic City with the Sabbath, you can see that it does affect. That being said, we’re 50, 60 strong. We’ll be the 50, 60 strongest, loudest people in that arena.”

“Everybody in boxing understands and respects the religion,” he added. “It makes it a lot easier to make this happen. I’m very blessed that I can have this opportunity, especially on Saturday night.”

Eyes on Titles

Malul began boxing at 11 and turned professional after a short amateur run. Asked where he sees his career in the next two to three years, he did not limit his ambitions.

“The sky’s the limit. I really started from nothing in boxing,” Malul said. “God willing, I’m going to be 5-0 Saturday night. I want that belt. I want WBC. I want all those belts, and I’m not going to stop until I get that. I didn’t come this far to come this far. Whoever’s in front of me, I’m just going to out-beat them and out-box them. I want to rise to the top.”

First bell at the Tropicana Atlantic City Showroom is 7:30 PM ET on Saturday, June 13. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.