Брюс Селдон: Америкалық боксшының өмірі мен мансабы

American boxer

Bruce Samuel Seldon (born January 30, 1967) is an American former professional boxer and current boxing trainer, who competed from 1988 to 1996, and 2004 to 2009. He held the WBA heavyweight title from 1995 to 1996, most notably losing to Mike Tyson via knockout in his second defense.

Seldon compiled an amateur record of 20 wins and 4 losses, and won the New Jersey Golden Gloves in the super heavyweight division.

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 Seldon his first defeat. Seldon was ahead on the scorecards but tired and was knocked down by McCall three times in the ninth. In his next fight Seldon was matched with future undisputed world heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe who defeated him. Seldon returned in 1992 with a victory over Jesse Ferguson whom he stopped on an eye injury, but was knocked down and outpointed the same year by ex champion Tony Tubbs. Seldon signed with promoter Don King in 1993 and boxed on a series of his undercards, most notably in August 1993 when he stopped ex champion Greg Page in nine rounds.

In 1995, world heavyweight champion George Foreman was stripped of the WBA title for declining to defend it against Tony Tucker. As Seldon was the second ranked contender, a fight between him and Tucker was arranged for the vacant belt on April 8, 1995 in Las Vegas. Seldon, the underdog, used his jab to great effect and swelled Tucker's eye shut, to the point where the fight was stopped by the ringside doctor after seven rounds. On August 18, 1995, Seldon fought on the undercard of the Mike Tyson Peter McNeeley fight that marked Tyson's return to boxing. In the first defense of his title, Seldon again used his jab to control Joe Hipp and stop him in the tenth round.

Seldon's next defense was scheduled against Tyson, who in early 1996 won the WBC title for a second time by knocking out Frank Bruno. The bout was originally to be a title unification fight, with both Seldon's WBA belt and Tyson's WBC belt at stake. However, the WBC mandated that Tyson defend his belt against former champion Lennox Lewis first. Since the fight with Seldon was already signed, Tyson vacated his belt and only Seldon's was on the line when the two fought on September 7, 1996. The fight was marred by controversy as Seldon lost by knockout in the first round. His performance in the fight was vastly criticized, as he was knocked down twice on what appeared to be light or "phantom" punches from Tyson. Rumors started that Seldon had been paid to take a dive against Tyson, with the fans chanting "fix" following the decision. Although Seldon claimed in a post fight interview with Jim Gray that he did not take a dive, the criticism of his performance (including accusations that he took a dive) did not stop and Seldon elected to retire following the fight. Rapper Tupac Shakur attended the fight and was shot on the journey home, leading to his death six days later.

The Independent reported on the 23rd May 1998 "Seldon is currently on $50,000 bail in Camden, New Jersey, awaiting sentence after pleading guilty to supplying a 15 year old girl with marijuana and having unspecified sexual activity with her at his house. He faces a maximum of 10 years in jail, the sentence to be delivered on 26 June". [4]
According to the New York Times/Associated Press dated 27th June 1998 "The former World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon was sentenced to five years' probation and 364 days in jail by a Camden, N. J., judge yesterday for smoking marijuana with a 15 year old girl and taking part in sexual activity with her last year. I'm terribly sorry for everything that happened, Seldon said. I'm not a criminal. I'm not a bad person. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Seldon pleaded guilty last month to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed a more serious charge of sexual assault as well as drug and weapons offenses. [5]

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 jab and boxing style for a 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 40s, 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.

No. (Number)ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes48Loss40–8Fres OquendoKO9 (10), Jul 24, 200947Win40–7Gabe BrownTKO5 (8)May 15, 200946Win39–7Brad GregoryTKO2 (8), Nov 7, 200845Loss38–7Kevin JohnsonTKO5 (10), Sep 5, 200844Win38–6Livin CastilloTKO5 (8), May 31, 200843Win37–6Jay SweetmanKO2 (8), Mar 10, 200742Win36–6Marcus RhodeTKO1 (6), Feb 10, 200741Loss35–6Tye FieldsKO2 (10), Oct 28, 200540Loss35–5Gerald NoblesTKO9 (10), May 15, 200439Win35–4Lenzie MorganTKO2 (6)Apr 9, 200438Win34–4Otis TisdaleKO3 (6), Mar 6, 200437Loss33–4Mike TysonTKO1 (12), Sep 7, 199636Win33–3Joe HippTKO10 (12), Aug 19, 199535Win32–3Tony TuckerRTD7 (12), Apr 8, 199534Win31–3Bill CorriganKO1Dec 17, 199433Win30–3Tui ToiaTKO3 (10)Jul 2, 199432Win29–3Nathaniel FitchTKO4 (12)Feb 19, 199431Win28–3Greg PageTKO9 (12), Aug 6, 199330Win27–3Mike RobinsonKO2Apr 17, 199329Win26–3Al ShoffnerTKO7Feb 15, 199328Win25–3Alexander PopovTKO2 (12), Jan 24, 199327Loss24–3Tony TubbsUD10Oct 14, 199226Win24–2Percell DavisTKO3, Sep 18, 199225Win23–2Mike DixonUD10Jul 9, 199224Win22–2Larry GivensTKO2Jun 22, 199223Win21–2Jimmy TaylorTKO1Apr 16, 199222Win20–2Dion BurgessTKO1Feb 9, 199221Win19–2Jesse FergusonRTD5 (15), Jan 19, 199220Loss18–2Riddick BoweKO1 (10), Aug 9, 199119Loss18–1Oliver McCallTKO9 (10), Apr 18, 199118Win18–0Percell DavisTKO1 (10), Mar 22, 199117Win17–0Jose RibaltaRTD3 (10), Jan 11, 199116Win16–0David BeyTKO10 (10), Nov 1, 199015Win15–0John MortonTKO7, Aug 16, 199014Win14–0Tom SandnerRTD2 (8), Jun 24, 199013Win13–0Ossie OcasioUD8May 18, 199012Win12–0Danny WoffordUD6Apr 7, 199011Win11–0Jerry JonesTKO8 (8), Mar 23, 199010Win10–0Amos Lisboa CasillasKO1 (4), Feb 18, 19909Win9–0Lorenzo CanadyRTD (Corner retirement)2, Jan 15, 19908Win8–0Hassan ShabazzTKO5 (6), Nov 28, 19897Win7–0Isaac PooleKO1 (4)Sep 15, 19896Win6–0Ezra SellersTKO2 (4)Aug 22, 19895Win5–0Warren ThompsonTKO3 (4)Jun 25, 19894Win4–0Jesse McGheeUD (Unanimous decision)4May 30, 19893Win3–0Mike RobinsonTKO3 (4)Mar 21, 19892Win2–0Tyrone BarwellKO (Knockout)1 (4), Nov 23, 19881Win1–0Joel McGrawTKO (Technical knockout)1 (4)Oct 4, 1988