Cletus Seldin

Cletus Seldin
Statistics
Nickname(s) The Hebrew Hammer
Rated at Super Lightweight/Light Welterweight; 140 lb (64 kg)
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Reach 67 in (170 cm)
Nationality American
Born (1986-09-11) September 11, 1986
East Yaphank, New York
Stance Orthodox[1]
Boxing record
Wins 17
Wins by KO 14
Losses 0

Cletus Seldin (born September 11, 1986) is an American super lightweight boxer.[2] His nickname is the Hebrew Hammer.

In December 2014, he won the World Boxing Council International Silver Light Welterweight (140 pounds (64 kg)) title. Seldin's record as of June 2015 was 17–0, with 14 knockouts.[2]

Early and personal life

Cletus Seldin, who is Jewish, was born in East Yaphank, New York (part of Shirley, New York, on Long Island), named after former New York Yankee third baseman Clete Boyer, who was a close friend of his grandparents.[3][4][5] He grew up in Shirley in the eastern blue-collar part of Long Island.[4][6] His father is Harry Seldin.[3] His grandfather Lee Seldin headed a motorcycle club, the Dragons, in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1950s.[3][6]

At Longwood High School in Middle Island, New York, Seldin playing cornerback and wide receiver on the Longwood Lions football team, which won the 2004 Long Island championship, and wrestled and learned jiu jitsu.[5][7][8] In his senior year he set the New York State deadlifting record for men weighing up to 145 pounds (66 kg), by lifting 470 pounds (210 kg).[5] He later studied at Suffolk Community College.[9][10]

Seldin has also lived in Brentwood, New York, and now resides in Brooklyn.[2][11]

Boxing career

Seldin's nickname is the Hebrew Hammer.[3][12][13][14] He is trained and managed by Pete Brodsky, and promoted by Joe DeGuardia.[5][15][16]

In honor of his Jewish heritage he wears a Star of David on his trunks, as did former Jewish boxers Benny Leonard and world champion Barney Ross, and the back of his jacket says "Remember the Masada".[3] Unlike Jewish contemporary fighters Yuri Foreman and Dmitry Salita, who fight using modern boxing styles, Seldin fights in a throwback rugged brawler style, focusing on constantly putting pressure on the opposing fighter to wear him down.[3][5][15] He describes his style as "come forward and fight."[12] ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafeal described him as "a fun fighter."[17]

Seldin began boxing as a professional in 2011, when he was 22 years old.[3][6]

In April 2013, he had surgery for a torn right rotator cuff, labrum, and right hand.[5][12] That was followed by a lay-off of nine months.[5]

Seldin made his national television debut in July 2014 on ESPN against Bayan "the Mongolian Mongoose" Jargal (17–5–3, 11 knockouts) at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, Long Island, New York.[4][5][13][18] The fight ended as a "no-contest" in the third round, as Jargal suffered a badly swollen-shut right eye, and the ringside physician decided that Jargal could not continue any longer.[13][19]

In December 2014, he again faced Jargal.[20] Seldin defeated him by a technical knockout in the ninth round, winning the World Boxing Council International Silver Light Welterweight (140 pounds (64 kg)) title.[20][21][22]

He won with a technical knockout against Johnny Garcia (19–2–1, 11 KOs) on ESPN's Friday Night Fights on February 27, 2015, headlining as the main event in a fight for Seldin's WBC title.[21][23][24] The referee stopped the fight in the fifth round.[24] Seldin brought his record to 16–0, with 13 knockouts, including knockouts in 12 of his last 13 fights.[2][24][25]

On June 20, 2015 Seldin defended his WBC International Silver junior welterweight title and brought his record to 17-0 with 14 knockouts, with a 4th-round main event TKO of Ranee Ganoy, who was 38-13-2 with 32 knockouts, at The Paramount.[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Cletus Seldin". Star Boxing.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Cletus Seldin – Boxer". boxrec.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "On the Rise: 'Hebrew Hammer' Cletus Seldin Seeks to Join Ranks of Historic Jewish Boxers". Algemeiner. August 3, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Mitch Abramson (July 17, 2014). "L.I. boxer Cletus Seldin eager for shot at Chris Algieri". NY Daily News.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ryan Songalia (July 16, 2014). "New York attraction Cletus Seldin makes his ESPN debut". Ring TV.
  6. 1 2 3 Michael Woods (March 31, 2012). "The first "Cletus" I ever talked to fights tonight". ESPN.
  7. ↑ "Cletus Seldin". MaxPreps.
  8. ↑ "Jamie Stuart spars with 'Westbury Wars' boxers". News 12 Long Island. October 12, 2012.
  9. ↑ Mitch Abramson (February 25, 2009). "Sherron waits out, wins out in Gloves". New York Daily News.
  10. ↑ Mitch Abramson (March 5, 2009). "Cletus Seldin wins slugfest over Emmanuel Duverge at Golden Gloves". New York Daily News.
  11. ↑ "Seldin fights at Paramount Friday". Newsday. January 24, 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 Michael Woods (November 19, 2013). "Update on 'The Hebrew Hammer'". ESPN.
  13. 1 2 3 Mitch Abramson (July 19, 2014). "Cletus Seldin and Bayan Jargal fight ends in no contest". NY Daily News.
  14. ↑ "Rising Jewish Brawler Cletus Seldin Wins Latest Match in Three Rounds". Algemeiner. January 28, 2013.
  15. 1 2 Robert Cassidy (July 17, 2014). "Cletus Seldin looks to Chris Algieri for motivation". Newsday.
  16. ↑ Mark Whicker (November 18, 2014). "Chris Algieri hits the road so he can hit Manny Pacquiao". USA Today.
  17. ↑ "Chat with Dan Rafael – SportsNation". ESPN.
  18. ↑ Dan Rafael (December 19, 2014). "Redkach headlines 'ShoBox' card". ESPN.
  19. ↑ Jordan Lauterbach (July 18, 2014). "Shirley's Cletus Seldin hammers foe but it's declared a no-contest". Newsday.
  20. 1 2 "Seldin and Smith Winners In "Rockin Fight" Fashion!". Boxing 24/7. December 22, 2014.
  21. 1 2 "Cletus Seldin-Johnny Garcia Headline Rockin Fights 17 Live On ESPN's Friday Night Fights". Boxing.com. February 6, 2015.
  22. ↑ "WBC International Championships, WBC Boxing
  23. ↑ Dan Rafael (January 19, 2015). "Notes: Bute signs with Haymon". ESPN.
  24. 1 2 3 Greg Logan (February 28, 2015). "Cletus Seldin hammers his way to fifth-round win". Newsday.
  25. ↑ Martin Hines (February 27, 2015). "Carl Frampton vs Chris Avalos; Tyson Fury vs Christian Hammer; Dmitry Chudinov vs Chris Eubank Jr - boxing on TV this weekend". The Independent.
  26. ↑ "Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin Remains undefeated with TKO over Ganoy". Boxing News 24. June 20, 2015.

External links

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