Smithville heavyweight boxer Bruce Seldon, Jr. ruined the game plan last Friday night.
Co-managers Jim Kurtz and David Dubinsky and trainer Julio Sanchez had scheduled Seldon to fight in his first six-round bout at Tropicana Casino Resort against Alexis Soriano Taveras of the Dominican Republic in an effort to test his durability.
But the fight lasted less than a minute.
Seldon (7-0, 6 KOs), son of former World Boxing Association world heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon, needed just 46 seconds to register the victory.
“I came in here ready for a six-round fight,” Seldon said. “I had a whole game plan, to pace myself a little bit more, so I don’t get burned out in the beginning. But I personally like to let my opponents feel my power in the beginning and see how they take it, then either box or keep the pressure on.”
Taveras (3-3, 1 KO) obviously didn’t take it well.
Seldon backed him into the ropes in the opening seconds of the fight, then unleashed a flurry of punches while Taveras sagged to the canvas.
Fans seated in the bleachers next to the ring rose and roared while referee Eddie Claudio started the 10-count. Taveras sat on the canvas, his back pressed against the bottom rung of the ropes, until Claudio reached eight. He managed to get to one knee, but couldn’t pull himself up in time to avoid the stoppage.
“I don’t even know what shot it was that put him down,” Seldon said. “I might have been the uppercut. It was right up the middle and then I saw him on the floor.”
It marked the fastest victory of Seldon’s young career, topping a 53-second knockout over Gabriel Costa at the Tropicana in March, and was his fifth first-round win.
Because he had no amateur career and recently turned 30 years old, Kurtz and the rest of DKO Boxing have him on an accelerated pace in an effort to gain experience and confidence against opponents with a variety of styles.
Last Friday’s bout was his seventh in 13 months. He’s scheduled to fight again at the Trop in November, where he enjoys a huge following from his days at Absegami High School and Atlantic City-area boxing fans.
“Man, I’m still so much in the beginning of my career,” he said. “I am getting a little more confidence within myself each fight, but we still have a ways to go. I’ve still got a lot to learn.
“Fortunately, I have a great team behind me. I’m very blessed to have people in my corner who actually care. I know they’re always going to put me in the best situations and as long as I keep putting in the work, things will fall into place.”
Seldon puts in the work at the Pleasantville Recreation Center, where Sanchez oversees a group of fighters that also includes his son, lightweight Julio Sanchez III.
The younger Sanchez (2-1, 1 KO), a 23-year-old former basketball standout at Atlantic City and Pleasantville high schools, rebounded from his first career loss with a solid performance that netted a TKO over Alexander Stone (1-6-1, 1 KO), of Jackson, Tenn.
Referee David Franciosi stopped the scheduled four-round bout at the end of the third round on the advice of Stone’s corner.
Sanchez’s best performance actually came after the bout, when he climbed into the crowd that was in the bleachers next to the ring and gave his robe to Shaniqua Moore.
Shaniqua’s 13-year-old son, Mu’Zair “Mu” Moore of Pleasantville, died in March from injuries after getting hit by a car while walking with a friend in Egg Harbor Township.
“He was on his way to becoming one of the best young athletes ever from our city,” Sanchez said. “It just felt important to me because I used to see the little boy every day. He was in the gym training, putting in the work, and I knew he was going to be special. I felt like I owed it to him to give his mom my robe.”
Seldon and Sanchez fought last Friday as part of a tremendous card staged by Margate native Larry Goldberg of Boxing Insider Promotions.
The show featured a terrific, action-packed main event that saw Las Vegas light-flyweight Andy Dominguez Velasquez (13-1, 6 KOs) take a 10-round, split decision over Byron Rojas (29-5-3, 12 KOs), of Holland, Mich.
It was Goldberg’s fifth show at the Tropicana in the last 14 months, continuing a tradition that was started by the late Don Elbaum and the late Teddy Menas in the 1980s and later extended by Diane Lee Fischer a decade later.
Elbaum and Menas staged an amazing 196 shows as part of their Tuesday Night Fights series at the Tropicana Showroom, prompting Goldberg to honor him with a watch and plaque at the casino last November.
Sadly, Elbaum passed away Sunday night at age 97.
The local boxing community is also mourning the loss of former world light-heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Qawi, nicknamed the “Camden Buzzsaw,” died at age 72 after a five-year fight with dementia.
Qawi, formerly known as Dwight Braxton, finished a 20-year pro career with a 41-11-1 record with 25 KOs. That included 23 fights in Atlantic City, where he went 21-2.
Margate Memorials, PFl slated for Friday
The 75th Margate Memorial lifeguard races are scheduled for Friday, as is the Professional Fighters League tournament at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
The Margate Memorials, the second leg of lifeguard racing’s “Big Three,” will be held at Margate’s Decatur Avenue beach starting at 6:30 p.m. and will feature the doubles row, swim and singles row.
The PFL’s return to Atlantic City will feature its welterweight and featherweight Tournament Championship finals.
In the main event, undefeated Thad Jean (10-0) of Haiti faces former interim Bellator champion Logan Storley (18-3) in the welterweight final.
Former PFL featherweight champs Jesus Pinedo (25-6-1) and Movlid Khaybulaev (23-0-1, 1 NC) will fight in the co-main event.
The 10-bout card starts at 6 p.m. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
David is a nationally recognized sports columnist who has covered Philadelphia and local sports for over 40 years. After 35 years with The Press, he has served as a columnist for 973ESPN.com and created his own Facebook page, Dave Weinberg Extra Points. Send comments to weinbergd419@comcast.net.
