On Saturday, December 16, 2017, Cletus Seldin (21-1, 17 KOs) became the first fighter since Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. to compete in featured bouts on HBO in back-to-back months.
The accolades ended there for the Hebrew Hammer, as Quebec native Yves Ulysse Jr. (15-1, 9 KOs) earned a lopsided unanimous decision at Place Bell.
Seldin was in deep water from the very beginning, getting dropped by the speedy Ulysse in each of the first three rounds. As it turned out, overcoming three 10×8 scorecards was not a task Seldin was up to.
After hanging in tough in even middle rounds, things came unglued for Seldin in Rounds 9 and 10; nearly getting dropped again in the final frame, while spitting out his mouthguard for a final time. After 10 mismatched rounds, Ulysse took home a 99-88 (three times) verdict.
Seldin concludes his 2017 with a 2-1 record, having previously beaten Renald Garrido and Roberto Ortiz. While the defeat drops Seldin’s stock, Saturday’s bout may serve as a springboard for the 29-year-old Ulysse.
“Yves Ulysse is a good fighter but he is not exciting,” said Seldin. “I was not expecting him to run that much. I thought he would come to fight coming from a decision lost. I showed my thoughness and tried to finish strong but it was impossible because of all the running. Peter Nelson thought I did a good job.”
Having competed in Canada for all but one of his career fights, Ulysse picks up a win on the biggest stage of his career–in the opening bout of an HBO telecast featuring David Lemieux and Billy Joe Saunders.
“I was the underdog,” said Ulysse. “Everyone thought that I was in for a beating, and look at what happened. I told you that my moment was coming. Speed kills! The sky is the limit!”
Ulysse, whose fight leading into Saturday was a loss to 25-4-1 fighter, Steve Claggett, will look to stake his claim in the super Lightweight division.
Header photo by Ed Mulholland/HBO Boxing
