Bruce Seldon

Bruce Seldon
Bruce Seldon (left), sports writer Robert Brizel (center), and son Isiah Seldon ringside Trump Taj Mahal 2010 after Isiah's KO win
Statistics
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 1 1⁄2 in (1.87 m)
Reach	78 in (198 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	January 30, 1967 (1967-01-30) Atlantic City, New Jersey
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	48
Wins	40
Wins by KO	36
Losses	8
Draws	0

Bruce Samuel Seldon (born January 30, 1967) is a retired American boxer and former world champion, having won the World Boxing Association heavyweight title in 1995.

Amateur career

Seldon compiled an amateur record of 20-4 and won the New Jersey Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Championship.

Professional career

Known as "The Atlantic City Express", Seldon began his career on October 4, 1988 with a first-round knockout of Joel McGraw and won his first 18 fights without a blemish. During his winning streak he defeated some notable boxers: Ezra Sellers (future world cruiserweight title challenger), Ossie Ocasio (former cruiserweight champion and heavyweight title challenger), David Bey (former world rated contender), and Jose Ribalta (former world title contender).

On April 18, 1991 future WBC heavyweight champion Oliver McCall handed Bruce his first defeat. Seldon was ahead on the scorecards but ran out of gas and was dropped by McCall three times in the ninth. In his next fight Seldon was matched with future undisputed world heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe who blew him.

Seldon returned in 1992 with a victory over sometimes-dangerous Jesse Ferguson whom he stopped on an eye injury, but was dropped and outpointed the same year by crafty ex-champ Tony Tubbs. Seldon signed with legendary promoter Don King in 1993 and boxed on a series of his undercards, most notably in August 1993 when he stopped waning ex-champ Greg Page in nine rounds.

WBA heavyweight title

On April 8, 1995 Seldon boxed towering ex-champ Tony Tucker for the vacant WBA title that George Foreman had vacated rather than do business with Don King. The aging 35 year old Tucker seemed to hurt Seldon a few times during the bout, but the younger fighter's famed jab swelled Tucker's eye shut and the fight was stopped on injury after seven rounds. With Mike Tyson fresh out of prison and on the comeback trail, this victory meant huge money for Seldon down the road.

In his first defence Seldon stopped Native American Joe Hipp in the 10th round, on the undercard of Mike Tyson's return to the ring against Peter McNeeley.

Seldon vs Tyson

In his second defense, in September 1996, he met WBC champion Mike Tyson, who had won his title crushing Frank Bruno in three. Seldon was knocked down twice, under punches that did not appear to connect with much force, and was stopped by knockout in the first round.

Replays shown in the arena and on TV did not appear to show hard punches on the two Seldon knockdowns and the fans in the arena chanted "Fix! Fix! Fix!", believing Seldon had taken a dive. Seldon went into retirement after the fight. Rap artist Tupac Shakur attended the fight and shortly after was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in the Las Vegas metropolitan area of Nevada. Shakur was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where he died several days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.

After this ignominious defeat Seldon, aged only 29 and with a respectable record of 33-4, laid low for many years, leaving the boxing scene. Several years later, he served time for statutory rape.

Comeback

Seldon attempted a comeback at age 37 in 2004. He defeated two journeymen before gaining a high profile fight on HBO with Gerald Nobles. Abandoning his famed jab and boxing style for a brutal punch out, Seldon decked Nobles in the second and was ahead on points but ended up throwing in the towel due to an eye injury in the ninth. In his next bout, an overweight Seldon was stopped in two rounds by Tye Fields.

Seldon launched a second comeback in 2007, now into his 40's, and knocked out a series of journeymen before being knocked out himself by ranked contenders Kevin Johnson and Fres Oquendo. He was also KO'd in four during an exhibition with Alexander Povetkin.

Currently

Seldon is currently training his super middleweight son Isiah Seldon. While not officially 'retired', Seldon is more involved with his son's career at this time. Bruce Seldon's career record stands at 40 Wins and 8 losses, with 36 knockouts.

Professional boxing record

40 Wins (36 knockouts, 4 decisions), 8 Losses (7 knockouts, 1 decision), 0 Draws [1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	40–8	Fres Oquendo	KO	9 (10)	24/07/2009	UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois, United States	For Interim NABA heavyweight title.
Win	40–7	Gabe Brown	TKO	5 (8)	15/05/2009	Harrah's Marina Hotel Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	39–7	Brad Gregory	TKO	2 (8)	07/11/2008	Bally's Park Place Hotel Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss	38–7	Kevin Johnson	TKO	5 (10)	05/09/2008	Bally's Event Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	38–6	Livin Castillo	TKO	5 (8)	31/05/2008	Showboat Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	37–6	Jay Sweetman	KO	2 (8)	10/03/2007	Best Western Banquet Hall, Winchester, Virginia, United States
Win	36–6	Marcus Rhode	KO	1 (6)	10/02/2007	Klein Jewish Comm. Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Loss	35–6	Tye Fields	KO	2 (10)	28/10/2005	Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss	35–5	Gerald Nobles	TKO	9 (10)	15/05/2004	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	35–4	Lenzie Morgan	TKO	2 (6)	09/04/2004	Drexel National Guard Armory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	34–4	Otis Tisdale	KO	3 (6)	06/03/2004	Blue Horizon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Loss	33–4	Mike Tyson	KO	1 (12)	07/09/1996	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Lost WBA heavyweight title.
Win	33–3	Joe Hipp	TKO	10 (12)	19/08/1995	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Retained WBA heavyweight title.
Win	32–3	Tony Tucker	RTD	7 (12)	08/04/1995	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Won vacant WBA heavyweight title.
Win	31–3	Bill Corrigan	KO	1 (?)	17/12/1994	Ruminahui Coliseum, Quito, Ecuador
Win	30–3	Tui Toia	TKO	3 (?)	02/07/1994	Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	29–3	Nathaniel Fitch	TKO	4 (12)	19/02/1994	Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States	Retained IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
Win	28–3	Greg Page	TKO	9 (12)	06/08/1993	Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico	Retained IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
Win	27–3	Mike Robinson	KO	2 (?)	17/04/1993	Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	26–3	Al Shoffner	TKO	7 (?)	15/02/1993	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	25–3	Alexander Popov	TKO	2 (12)	24/01/1993	Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Retained IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
Loss	24–3	Tony Tubbs	UD	10	14/10/1992	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	24–2	Percell Davis	TKO	3 (?)	18/09/1992	Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	23–2	Mike Dixon	UD	10	09/07/1992	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	22–2	Larry Givens	TKO	2 (?)	22/06/1992	Greensburg, Indiana, United States
Win	21–2	Jim Taylor	TKO	1 (?)	16/04/1992	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
Win	20–2	Dion Burgess	TKO	1 (?)	09/02/1992	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	19–2	Jesse Ferguson	TKO	5 (15)	19/01/1992	Taj Majal Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Won vacant IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
Loss	18–2	Riddick Bowe	KO	1 (10)	09/08/1991	Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss	18–1	Oliver McCall	TKO	9 (10)	18/04/1991	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	18–0	Percell Davis	TKO	1 (10)	22/03/1991	Trump Castle, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	17–0	Jose Ribalta	TKO	3 (10)	11/01/1991	Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	16–0	David Bey	TKO	10 (10)	01/11/1990	Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	15–0	John Morton	TKO	7 (?)	16/08/1990	Sheraton Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Win	14–0	Tom Sandner	RTD	2 (10)	24/06/1990	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	13–0	Ossie Ocasio	PTS	8	18/05/1990	San Jose, California, United States
Win	12–0	Danny Wofford	UD	6	07/04/1990	USA Flea Market, Miami Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Win	11–0	Jerry Jones	TKO	8 (8)	23/03/1990	Showboat Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	10–0	Amos Lisboa-Casillas	KO	1 (4)	18/02/1990	Resorts International, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	9–0	Lorenzo Canady	RTD	2 (?)	15/01/1990	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	8–0	Hassan Shabazz	TKO	5 (6)	28/11/1989	Alumni Arena, Buffalo, New York, United States
Win	7–0	Isaac Poole	KO	1 (4)	15/09/1989	Jai Alai Fronton, Miami, Florida, United States
Win	6–0	Ezra Sellers	TKO	2 (4)	22/08/1989	Showboat Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	5–0	Warren Thompson	TKO	3 (4)	25/06/1989	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	4–0	Jesse McGhee	UD	4	30/05/1989	Trump Castle, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	3–0	Mike Robinson	TKO	3 (4)	21/03/1989	Trump Castle, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	2–0	Tyrone Barwell	KO	1 (4)	23/11/1988	Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	1–0	Joel McGraw	TKO	1 (4)	04/10/1988	Atlantis Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Professional debut.

External links

• Professional boxing record for Bruce Seldon from BoxRec

Achievements
Vacant Title last held by George Foreman	WBA Heavyweight Champion April 8, 1995–September 7, 1996	Succeeded by Mike Tyson