Cletus Seldin (born September 11, 1986) is an American professional boxer.

Early life

Seldin was born in

East Yaphank, New York Shirley is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. At the 2010 census, the population of Shirley was 27,854. Shirley is the western terminus of Atlantic Crossing 1, a major submarine telecommunications ...

(part of Shirley, New York, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

). He is Jewish. He was named after former New York Yankee third baseman Clete Boyer, who was a close friend of his grandparents. He grew up in Shirley. His father is Harry Seldin. His grandfather Lee Seldin headed a motorcycle club, the Dragons, in

Bedford Stuyvesant Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst t ...

in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1950s. At

Longwood High School Longwood Central School District covers in central Brookhaven Town, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It serves the hamlets of Ridge, Gordon Heights, Middle Island, Coram, and Yaphank, and parts of Shoreham, Shirley, Medford, an ...

in Middle Island, New York, Seldin played cornerback and wide receiver on the Longwood Lions football team, which won the 2004 Long Island championship. He also wrestled and learned jiu jitsu. In his senior year he set the New York State

deadlifting The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

record for men weighing up to , by lifting . He later studied at

Suffolk Community College Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) is a public community college in Selden, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and is funded in part by Suffolk County, New York. Suffolk County Community College was ...

Boxing career

Seldin's nickname is the Hebrew Hammer. He is trained and managed by Pete Brodsky, and promoted by Joe DeGuardia. Seldin wears a

Star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

on his trunks, as did former Jewish boxers Benny Leonard and Barney Ross. "Remember the Masada", a reference to the legendary mass suicide of Jewish rebels under siege by Romans in

AD 74 AD 74 ( LXXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Titus (third time) and Vespasian (fifth time) (or, less frequently, ye ...

, is stitched on the back of his jacket. He describes his style as "come forward and fight." ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafeal described him as "a fun fighter." Seldin began boxing as a professional in 2011, when he was 25 years old. In April 2013, he had surgery for a torn right rotator cuff, labrum, and right hand. That was followed by nine months of recovery time. Seldin made his national television debut in July 2014 on ESPN against Bayan "the Mongolian Mongoose" Jargal (17–5–3, 11

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

s) at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, Long Island, New York. The fight ended as a " no-contest" in the third round, as the ringside physician called the fight when Seldin head butted Jargal and caused a badly swollen-shut right eye. In December 2014, he again faced Jargal. Seldin defeated him by a technical knockout in the ninth round, winning the World Boxing Council International Silver

Light Welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

() title. 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. The referee stopped the fight in the fifth round. Seldin brought his record to 16–0, with 13 knockouts, including knockouts in 12 of his last 13 fights. 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. On April 6, 2017, Seldin tested positive for anabolic steroid use for a second time showing an increased level of testosterone and anabolic steroid Stanozolol also known as Winstrol , which forced his June 15 fight to be canceled. His testosterone to epitestosterone ratio (T/E) was 21.02 to 1, which far exceeded the allowable threshold of 4 to 1 under World Anti-Doping Agency standards. The WBC ruled that Seldin was suspended from participating in any WBC-sanctioned bouts for six months, or until Aug. 1, 2017, and that VADA would design a specific random testing protocol for Seldin at his own cost that would go on for one year. On November 11, 2017, Seldin made his HBO Boxing debut fighting and winning in a third-round TKO against Roberto Ortiz, resulting in Ortiz's second-ever loss. Seldin's record improved to 21-0 with 17 knockouts. He is the reigning Super Lightweight Champion of the North American Boxing Association; in 2020 he broke his own record by winning 25 of 26 fights, with 21 knockouts, when he fought Luis Florez. On October 16, 2021, in the main event at TrillerVerz at

Barclays Center Barclays Center is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty o ...

in Brooklyn, NY, he knocked out Brazil's Willam Silva in the seventh round.

Personal life

Seldin resides in Long Island.

Professional boxing record

References

External links