Cletus Seldin


Cletus Seldin is an American professional boxer.

Early and personal life

Cletus Seldin, who is Jewish, was born in East Yaphank, New York, 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 in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1950s.
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. In his senior year he set the New York State deadlifting record for men weighing up to, by lifting. He later studied at Suffolk Community College.
Seldin has also lived in Brentwood, New York, and now resides in Brooklyn.

Boxing career

Seldin's nickname is the Hebrew Hammer. He is trained and managed by Pete Brodsky, and promoted by Joe DeGuardia.
In honor of his Jewish heritage he wears a Star of David on his trunks, as did former Jewish boxers as heavyweight champion Max Baer, Benny Leonard and welterweight world champion Barney Ross, and the back of his jacket says "Remember the Masada". 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 22 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 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 Jargal suffered 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 title.
He won with a technical knockout against Johnny Garcia 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 increased levels of testosterone, which forced his June 15 fight to be canceled. His testosterone to epitestosterone ratio 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.

YouTube

Seldin has a YouTube channel called "Life of Cletus". There he shows his love for collecting Funko POP!s. In 2018 he appeared in the Netflix documentary Making Fun: The Story of Funko talking about his Funko collection.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
26Win25–1 Humberto MartinezTKO7 Feb 28, 2020Huntington, New York, U.S..png" />Retained WBA-NABA super lightweight title
25Win24–1 Zab JudahTKO11 Jun 7, 2019 Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, U.S.Won vacant WBA-NABA super lightweight title
24Win23–1 Adam MateKO1 Jan 26, 2019 Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut, U.S.
24Win22–1 Nelson LaraKO1 Nov 16, 2018 Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
23Loss21–1 Yves Ulysse Jr.UD10Dec 16, 2017 Place Bell, Labal, Canada
22Win21–0 Roberto OrtizTKO3 Nov 11, 2017 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, U.S.
21Win20–0 Renald GarridoUD10Sep 28, 2017 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
20Win19–0 Jesus SeligKO1 Jun 17, 2016 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
19Win18–0 Orlando VazquezKO1 Mar 5, 2016 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.Retained WBC International Silver super lightweight title
18Win17–0 Ranee GanoyTKO4 Jun 19, 2015 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.Retained WBC International Silver super lightweight title
17Win16–0 Johnny GarciaTKO5 Feb 27, 2015 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.Retained WBC International Silver super lightweight title
16Win15–0 Bayan JargalTKO9 Dec 20, 2014 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.Won vacant WBC International Silver super lightweight title
15Win14–0 Ramesis GilKO2 Sep 19, 2014 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
1413–0 Bayan JargalNC3 Jul 18, 2014 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
13Win13–0 Wilfredo AcunaTKO7 Apr 24, 2014 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
12Win12–0 Gilbert VenegasUD8Nov 22, 2013 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
11Win11–0 Jonathan CubaKO3 Feb 23, 2013 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
10Win10–0 Luis RodriguezTKO3 Jan 25, 2013 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
9Win9–0 Carl McNicklesTKO2 Oct 13, 2012 NYCB Theatre at Westbury, Jericho, New York, U.S.
8Win8–0 Jonathan GarciaKO1 Jul 28, 2012 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
7Win7–0 Marcus HallTKO2 Mar 31, 2012 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
6Win6–0 Tyler PoglineKO1 Jan 28, 2012 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
5Win5–0 Rashad BogarTKO3 Nov 19, 2011 Paramount Theatre, Huntington, New York, U.S.
4Win4–0 Jose Segura TorresTKO2 Oct 22, 2011 Madison Square Garden WaMu Theater, New York City, New York, U.S.
3Win3–0 Clarence BoothUD4Sep 23, 2011 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
2Win2–0 Hector RiveraUD4Jul 20, 2011 Oceana, New York City, New York, U.S.
1Win1–0 Wilson FelicianoTKO3 Jul 9, 2011 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.