Seldin Starts Strong, Wins Decision

Cletus Seldin defeated Jose Angulo by majority decision tonight at Madison Square Garden Theater. He scored a knockdown in each of the first two rounds before Angulo moved more to get into the fight.

Seldin-Angulo was supposed to open the televised portion of the 360 Promotions card, but it ended up being the third fight of the night. The crowd chanted, “Hamma! Hamma!” before the start of the bout. Cletus, the 37 year old puncher, came out aggressively. He used agile footwork to close the distance and targeted Angulo’s body with rights. The body work set up a monstrous overhand right that sent the 27 year old Ecuadorian to the canvas. The fight looked over, but Angulo courageously got back on his feet.

Seldin continued to target the body in the rest of the round. In the second, he came out with the same strategy, but added an uppercut. A left hook landed high on Angulo’s head for the second knockdown of the fight. The Ecuadorian ran for most of the round as Seldin slung left hooks. He managed to connect with a counter right as Seldin rushed forward with more abandon than before.

Angulo spent the next several rounds straddling the line between running and boxing. He started the third well, and landed a jab shortly before Seldin slipped and fell. Referee David Fields ruled no knockdown. Jose then ran until he found the right uppercut, which would be his most consistent weapon the rest of the way.

The fourth was close as Seldin continued to land rights to the hip in the hopes of slowing down Angulo. Meanwhile, Angulo relied on those right uppercuts and added a left hook to the body late in the round. Seldin trapped Angulo on the ropes a couple times in the fifth and managed to split his guard down the middle.

Angulo started the sixth fast, but the round quickly fell into a similar pattern as the previous one. Angulo was accurate on the move, but threw fewer punches than Seldin, who landed the harder shots.

Angulo had his best round in the seventh when he landed a hard right uppercut and several left hooks to the head. Seldin was never in trouble and finished the round with a good right.

Angulo continued throwing left hooks and right uppercuts in the final round, but he held more than he had previously. There was a long delay from the moment the final bell rang until the scorecards were read.

Seldin won on two judges’ cards 78-72 and 77-73. The third judge preferred Angulo’s movement, giving him five rounds, but with Seldin’s two knockdowns, that card read 75-75. The Jewish Boxing Blog scored it 77-73 for Seldin. He is now 28-1 with 23 KOs while Angulo falls to 16-8 with 9 KOs.

Courtesy of 360 Promotions

After the decision was announced, Cletus took the microphone and proposed in the ring to his girlfriend Jessica, who accepted. Mazel tov to the newly engaged couple!