Walter Seeley was a professional American Super Featherweight boxer from

Sayville Sayville is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on the South Shore of Long Island in the Township of Islip, the population of the CDP was 16,853 at the time of the 2010 census. History The e ...

, Long Island,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, born in the June 11, 1941 on

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Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. Seeley turned pro on October 29, 1963 by fighting a four round draw with Mike Rosario at Sunnyside Garden Arena in

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. Seeley's professional record was 16 wins no losses and two draws when he met tough Dominican fighter Jose Fernandez on October 8, 1971 at the

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. The bout ended in a ten round draw. Two months later on December 10, 1971 at

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Seeley lost for the first time in his career to Jose Fernandez by unanimous decision over ten rounds. After the loss to Jose Fernandez Seeley ran off three straight wins including an impressive eight round decision over Davey Vasquez at

on June 26, 1972. This fight was on the undercard of the

Ken Buchanan Ken Buchanan MBE (born 28 June 1945) is a Scottish retired professional boxer from Edinburgh and the former undisputed world lightweight champion. Gutteridge, Reg"King Ken, World Champion after a shock knock-down" ''Evening Times'' (Glasgow), ...

Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as wel ...

Lightweight Championship fight in which

won the title. Seeley followed the Vasquez victory by defeating Jose Fernandez by majority twelve round decision at

on August 28, 1972. Seeley captured the North American Super Featherweight title with the victory over Jose Fernandez. Seeley would lose the North American Super Featherweight title on March 9, 1973 to world contender Sammy Goss. Seeley suffered another setback when he traveled to the west coast. On April 28, 1973 Seeley was TKO'd in two rounds by former Champion

Rubén Olivares Rubén Olivares Avila (born January 14, 1947) is a Mexican former professional boxer and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame., Olivares was a world champion multiple times, and considered by many as the greatest bantamweight champio ...

at the Forum in

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. Seeley returned to New York and defeated Eduardo Santiago by ten round decision at the

in New York City. On August 27, 1973 Seeley defeated

Vilomar Fernandez Vilomar Fernandez (born August 12, 1952 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican Republic former professional boxer who twice challenged for the world Lightweight championship. Known as a very capable, defensive-minded fighter, Fernand ...

by ten round decision at the

. Vilomar Fernandez is best known for defeating the great champion

Alexis Argüello Alexis Argüello (April 19, 1952 – July 1, 2009) was a Nicaraguan professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 1995, and later became a politician. He was a List of boxing triple champions, three-weight world champion, having held the World Bo ...

. On April 2, 1977 at

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as a semi-final bout of the U.S. Championship Tournament Seeley lost a ten round unanimous decision to then undefeated Ruben Castillo. Seeley's last professional bout took place on September 30, 1979 at the William Floyd Arena in Shirley, Long Island,

. He defeated Bobby Huff by TKO in five rounds. Seeley boxed as a professional for sixteen years and fought many world contenders and was ranked in the top ten of the Super Featherweight division for a few years. He finished his career with thirty wins, five losses and three draws. Seeley went on to train boxers at the Franklin Boxing Club in

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, before passing away on December 28, 2019 at the age of 78.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seeley, Walter 1941 births Boxers from New York City Sportspeople from North Carolina People from Sayville, New York American male boxers Super-featherweight boxers Living people