Cletus Seldin (born September 11, 1986) is an American professional boxer.
Early life Seldin was born in East Yaphank, New York (part of Shirley, New York, on Long Island). 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 in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1950s.
At Longwood High School 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 record for men weighing up to , by lifting . He later studied at Suffolk Community College.
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 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, 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 knockouts) 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 () title."WBC International Championships, WBC Boxing
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 in Brooklyn, NY, he knocked out Brazil's Willam Silva in the seventh round.
Personal life Seldin resides on Long Island. In 2026, Seldin was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes31Win29–1 Yeis Gabriel Solano MD8Mar 16, 202530Win28–1 Jose Angulo MD8Mar 15, 202429Win27-1 (1) Patrick OkineTKO6 (8), 2:22Oct 10, 202328Win William SilvaKO7 (10), Oct 16, 202127Win25–1 Humberto Martinez TKO7 (12), Feb 28, 202026Win24–1 Zab JudahTKO11 (12), Jun 7, 2019 25Win23–1 Adam MateKO1 (10), Jan 26, 2019 24Win22–1 Nelson LaraKO1 (10), Nov 16, 2018 23Loss21–1 Yves Ulysse Jr.UD10Dec 16, 2017 22Win21–0 Roberto OrtizTKO3 (10), Nov 11, 2017 21Win20–0 Renald GarridoUD10Sep 28, 2017 20Win19–0 Jesus SeligKO1 (10), Jun 17, 2016 19Win18–0 Orlando VazquezKO1 (10), Mar 5, 2016 18Win17–0 Ranee GanoyTKO4 (10), Jun 19, 2015 17Win16–0 Johnny GarciaTKO5 (10), Feb 27, 2015 16Win15–0 Bayan JargalTKO9 (10), Dec 20, 2014 15Win14–0 Ramesis GilKO2 (10), Sep 19, 2014 1413–0 Bayan JargalNC3 (8), Jul 18, 2014 13Win13–0 Wilfredo AcunaTKO7 (8), Apr 24, 2014 12Win12–0 Gilbert VenegasUD8Nov 22, 2013 11Win11–0 Jonathan CubaKO3 (8), Feb 23, 2013 10Win10–0 Luis RodriguezTKO3 (6), Jan 25, 2013 9Win9–0 Carl McNicklesTKO2 (8), Oct 13, 2012 8Win8–0 Jonathan GarciaKO1 (6), Jul 28, 2012 7Win7–0 Marcus HallTKO2 (6), Mar 31, 2012 6Win6–0 Tyler PoglineKO1 (6), Jan 28, 2012 5Win5–0 Rashad BogarTKO3 (6), Nov 19, 2011 4Win4–0 Jose Segura TorresTKO2 (4), Oct 22, 2011 3Win3–0 Clarence BoothUD4Sep 23, 2011 2Win2–0 Hector RiveraUD4Jul 20, 2011 1Win1–0 Wilson FelicianoTKO3 (4), Jul 9, 2011
See also List of select Jewish boxers
References
External links
Cletus Seldin official site