Cletus Seldin Wins Rough Fight by TKO

Cletus “Hebrew Hammer” Seldin earned a hard-fought TKO when he stopped Patrick “Yam Mallet” Okine in the sixth round tonight at Sony Hall in New York, New York, USA on a card promoted by Boxing Insider. Ending a two-year layoff, Seldin admitted, “The fight to get into this ring was so hard. I had so much emotion all day.”

Seldin made an appearance ringside to greet his parents about three hours before the fight. With twenty minutes until the opening bell, the “Hamma Heads,” Seldin’s legion of faithful fans, bellowed, “Hammer! Hammer!” in anticipation.

When the fight arrived, Okine was loose, dancing to the ring as Terminator by King Promise blared over the sound system. By contrast, Seldin seemed pumped and tightly wound.

Both men opened the bout with fireworks. Seldin attacked the body with rights while Okine launched dangerous left hooks. Okine’s left hook was almost the story of the fight.

In the second, the Ghanaian began to retreat to the ropes, another significant feature of the fight. Cletus couldn’t quite take advantage and Okine fought well off the ropes and out of the corner. Seldin ducked a left hook, but Patrick dipped and came up with a concussive right. That and a late left hook helped Okine carry the round.

By the third, the story mostly seemed set. A fatigued Seldin continued to bore his way forward. Okine kept retreating only to connect with hurtful left hooks. Cletus blocked many of them, keeping his right glove by his cheek, but enough got in to cause swelling around his right eye.

The fourth saw Patrick add a slight hesitation to his left hook, which threw off Seldin’s defensive timing. The New Yorker took the fifth when Okine spent some time running. Fans ringside felt Seldin was in trouble as his face continued to swell and Okine shoe-shined a couple times while trapped in the corner. The truth was Okine was fading, just as he had in his previous big fights.

Okine started the sixth strong with more fully-leveraged left hooks. At the exact moment Cletus looked to be in trouble, he unleashed two right hands that sent Okine tumbling to the canvas. Seldin next used his left Grant glove to smash Okine while the latter was on the ropes. Ref Ricky Gonzalez leapt in to stop the fight and save Okine from further damage.

Seldin advances to 27-1 with 23 KOs. Okine is now 22-6-2 with 19 KOs. Of all the well wishes Cletus received before the fight, he said one stuck out, “Win for Israel.”

Promoter Larry Goldberg joked that fans came to see the only Jewish boxer and the only Jewish promoter in the country. Other dignitaries at the fight included Hall of Fame promoter and matchmaker Russell Peltz, the estimable scribe Thomas Hauser, and legendary heavyweight great Larry Holmes.

Cletus Seldin and Patrick Okine Weigh In

Cletus Seldin and Patrick Okine weighed in ahead of their clash tomorrow night at Sony Hall in New York, New York, United States. Seldin-Okine will be featured on a show promoted by Boxing Insider.

Seldin (26-1, 22 KOs) came in at 142.4 pounds. This is well within his normal range. The lightest Cletus has come in for a fight has been 138.3 pounds. He weighed that for his bout against Zab Judah in 2019. The heaviest Cletus has weighed in was 148. He did that in his second and third pro fights. Seldin made the 140-pound junior welterweight limit in his last three fights as they were all for the NABA strap.

Okine (22-5-2, 19 KOs) tipped the scales at 137.2 pounds. The heaviest he has weighed for a fight was 139 pounds, which he last did in March. Of his recorded weights, the lightest he has been is 126, which he last did in 2012 against Lee Selby.

A five pound advantage is noteworthy at this weight. It is among several advantages Seldin holds heading into the fight. But Okine is a dangerous puncher as he showed in his last fight on September 9. Against a novice opponent, Okine earned a second round KO at the famed Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra, Ghana.

This bout is scheduled for eight rounds. For a full preview, click here.

Courtesy of Boxing Insider

Introducing Lev Jackson

Southpaw Lev Jackson is an all-action brawler from East Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In six pro fights, the 31 year old has amassed a record of 3-1-1 with one no contest and one KO. He turned pro in 2019. After a two and a half year layoff, his career has revved up since November of 2021.

Jackson first became infatuated with boxing after watching Rocky as a kid. A precocious teenager, he became a boxing writer and covered local fights for various outlets. Lev starting training at 15 with the support of his mother.

The road hasn't been easy for Jackson. A two-time Canadian amateur featherweight champ, he has found success in the ring despite battling Crohn's disease. Because of the disease, he had to stop boxing for three years on doctor's orders. So, Lev temporarily joined the world of professional wresting.

After Jackson won his debut, he came away with a draw in his second fight. In his next bout, Lev slammed a right hook into Herman Cheuk's chin in the second round of their fight in July of 2022. Cheuk staggered back to the ropes and Jackson followed up, forcing the referee to stop the contest.

Aggressive southpaw volume punchers are rarer than a shy Jehovah's Witness, but Lev Jackson has created his own mold. Against the far more experienced Mario Victorino Vera last October, Jackson started the fight like he was "shot out of a cannon." It was his first six-rounder and he couldn't sustain his eye-popping activity. He dropped the decision.

An accidental headbutt last March halted the fight against Elroy Fruto when Jackson took the worst of the collision. Jackson had beaten Fruto twice in the amateurs. This past July, Lev learned from his mistakes and was far more patient in his second six-rounder. He earned a decision victory over Luis Prieto.

Jackson works with coaches Junior Moar and JY Kim. To compensate for Crohn's disease, he feels he has to train much harder than his opponents do. Fueled by hard work, Lev looks to follow in the footsteps of the many great Jewish Canadian boxers who have come before him.

Josh Feldman to Make Debut

Southpaw junior middleweight Joshua Feldman is scheduled to make his professional debut on October 21. He is scheduled to fight Mbulelo Aluvhani of Limpopo, South Africa. The bout will take place at Box Camp Booysens in Johannesburg, South Africa.

From Cape Town, Feldman is now based at the Hot Box Gym in Jozi. The start of his career has seen a few delays thanks to a spider bite and the promoter's licensing issues. Now that things have cleared up, the 19 year old prospect is ready to make the leap into the pro ranks.