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Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Yotham Shalom, Undefeated Junior Lightweight

Yotham Shalom, a junior lightweight from Israel, fought his first two professional fights last year. In April of 2017, he stopped Patrik Major in the third round of a bout in France. Major fell to 2-12.

Shalom next fought Lucas Cabeo on December 2 in France. Cabeo, who weighed in at the junior lightweight limit of 130, was nearly two pounds heavier than Shalom. Cabeo took the first two rounds, but Shalom fought back in the third and fourth rounds to salvage a draw. Cabeo's record became 0-1-1 after the fight, but the 20 year old is now 2-2-1. Shalom, who also has experience in Thai boxing, is 1-0-1 with one KO.

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Milch Avenges Defeat in Rematch

Junior middleweight Tony Milch avenged one of only two career losses by defeating Danny Little tonight in a scheduled six-rounder at the Lee Valley Leisure Complex in London, England. Milch didn't allow Little to back him up to the ropes as much as in their first fight. He also used the jab more, threw the uppercut, and utilized his strength advantage this time around.

In their first fight, Milch boxed well during the first two rounds, jabbing and moving effectively. In the third, Little switched to southpaw for a longer stretch and his awkwardness as a lefty allowed him to land more flush shots. Little switched between stances the rest of the fight and Milch never figured out the proper defense when Little was a lefty. In the sixth, Milch was busier than in previous rounds, but Little continued to land. Milch lost the first fight 56-58.

Milch, nicknamed "2 Guns", thought about retiring after the loss to Little but regained his desire to fight over the summer. The result was he weighed in the lightest of his career, 150 pounds, and was in great shape for the rematch. This time, Milch won five of the six rounds, taking the bout on points with a score of 59-55.

The 37 year old Milch earned his 14th win while Little fell to 7-50-2.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Tamar Israeli: 2-0 Super Featherweight

Tamar "Princess" Israeli is 2-0 with two stoppage victories. On February 11, 2017, Israeli knocked out Khadija Sanders in the first round. Sanders is now 0-4 and has been stopped in the opening round in each fight. Three months later, Israeli stopped Lashanda Tabron is the third round.  Tabron was making her professional debut. Both fights took place in Raleigh, North  Carolina.

According to BoxRec, the 5'8" Israeli is scheduled to get back in the ring on December 15 in Miami, but the event isn't listed anywhere else, which isn't a good sign that it will take place.

Sunday, November 18, 2018

The JBB is Back! An Update

The Jewish Boxing Blog is now back. I apologize for not providing any updates and for not getting back to anyone kind enough to email me. I am thrilled to announce the reason I was incommunicado is because my wife and I had twins. They are now a year and a half, and my head is finally just above water.

Since The JBB's last post in January of 2017, not a ton has happened in the world of Jewish boxing. Yuri Foreman hasn't been in the ring since that last post, but he is considering a comeback according to hints he's dropped on Facebook.

After suffering competitive defeats to the best light heavyweights in the world, Sergiy Kovalev, Olexandr Gvozdyk, and Eleider Alvarez, Isaac Chilemba beat Blake Caparello, an Australian boxer whose three losses have been to world class opposition. After the victory in March, Chilemba lost a decision to Dmitry Bivol, a Russian fighter who might be the next light heavyweight star. Chilemba is now 25-6-2 with 10 KOs.

Boyd Melson retired with a 15-2-1 record and flirted with a run for Congress, even raising money for the endeavor.

Carolina Raquel Duer lost two split decisions to Maria Cecilia Roman on August 4, 2017 and then exactly one year later. Duer's record is now 19-5-1 with 6 stoppages.

Tony Milch, the British junior middleweight, out-pointed a 90-fight veteran Arvydas Trizno in May of 2017. Afterwards, Milch suffered his first two career losses. A fifth round stoppage loss to 17-1 (at the time) prospect Matt McCarthy took place on October 10, 2017. Fewer than four months later Milch dropped a close decision to 47-fight veteran Danny Little, who picked up only his seventh victory. Perhaps the 37 year old jumped into the ring too quickly after the TKO loss.

Zachary Wohlman went1-1-1 in 2017. His win was a stoppage victory, Kid Yamaka's second career KO. Each of the three fights were against boxers with more professional fights than Wohlman, but each opponent had a losing record. Wohlman last fought on November 3, 2017, a 4th round KO loss. He is 10-3-2.

After falling to undefeated prospect Charles Foster, Sam Horowitz has faced two opponents with quality records. He lost to David Murray in April of 2017 and then drew with Daniel Najera four months later. He also knockout Skylar Thompson, but the fight was later ruled an exhibition because Thompson weighed too much. Sam retired with a 6-3-2 and 5 KOs.

Dustin Fleischer retired in May of 2017 with a 6-0 record and 5 KOs.

Two young fighters have surfaced since 2017. David Kaminsky is an 18-year old southpaw junior middleweight. The 3-0 boxer punches in combination and attacks the body. He has scored two knockouts thus far and is promoted by Top Rank. Benny "The Jewish Bulldog" Sinakin is a 21 year old light heavyweight from Philadelphia. The former amateur standout is 2-0 as a professional with one knockout and one shutout decision victory.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Seldin KOs Opponent in Comeback Fight

Cletus Seldin stopped his opponent in 26 seconds of the first round last night. This was his first fight since suffering his first defeat last December. Seldin landed an overhand right before digging to the body with a left hook that sent Nelson Lara to the canvas clutching his right side as he writhed in pain.

Seldin's career was at its zenith after stopping Roberto Ortiz (35-1-2 at the time) in the third round of an HBO showcase fight on November 16, 2017. Just one month later Seldin received a boxing clinic from Yves Ulysse as the Hebrew Hammer was made to look silly in his second HBO appearance. Seldin's career momentum seemed to completely dissipate after the loss.

HBO's lead commentator Jim Lampley, immediately wrote off Seldin, declaring, "I don't believe we'll see Cletus Seldin on HBO again." The comment is now apparently prescient, but only because HBO is halting its live boxing coverage at the end of the year.

A deeper look into Seldin's loss reveals that Yves Ulysse is an underrated master-boxer. His lone loss came last year against Steve Claggett- a split decision- but there really is no way any reasonable judge could have scored the fight for Claggett. Ulysses landed many more flush punches against the tough Canadian. That loss seemed to unfairly transform him from a hot prospect into an opponent.

Ulysse walked down and eventually made Zachary Ochoa, an undefeated prospect at the time of their clash, run for survival in a fight last year. It didn't prevent the inevitable stoppage victory for Yves. Ulysse has now dominated three undefeated fighters with at least 16 victories after a near shutout win over Ernesto Espana this past June.

Seldin looked foolish last December complaining that Ulysse was running even as Seldin hit the canvas three times, but it's a defeat that won't look as bad as Ulysse continues to rise up the ranks and if Seldin can learn from his mistakes.

Seldin is now 22-1 with 18 KOs after finishing Nelson Lara in less than thirty seconds. Lara is now 17-11-4 with 9 KOs.