Cletus Seldin has experienced highs and lows throughout his boxing career and life, but he always finds a way to pick himself up and keep moving.
With a boxing record of 25-1, with 21 knockouts, super lightweight Cletus Seldin has an impressive résumé. It looks even better when you consider that he started boxing at the age of 22. Despite the numbers, even a successful boxer like Seldin has struggled in and out of the ring.
Seldin hasn’t fought since February of 2020. He won that fight by TKO, but the pandemic hit. The boxing business was put on hold and then shifted away from Seldin’s favor. Nobody had it easy in 2020, but Seldin’s world turned upside down in several ways.
“Man, it [the pandemic] was possibly the worst thing that could possibly happen,” Seldin told FanSided. “So I go fight. My girlfriend works at a place. She comes home. So I get COVID from her. Then we break up, and I’m moving out. I’m moving on my own. And I’m like, where am I gonna live?”
Life hit Seldin hard. With his career stalled and his relationship over, Seldin was at a crossroads in his life. Fortunately, his luck took a turn, and some kind friends lent a helping hand when Seldin needed it the most.
“Then the Ramsey realtors, this family basically adopted me at the age of 34 years old, and let me stay at their oldest son’s house and took me in,” revealed Seldin.
Cletus Seldin fight next on TrillerVerz, but he would be willing to venture out into other combat sports
Seldin’s new family of sorts helped him gain some stability during a tumultuous time, but he was still out of love and waiting on another opportunity in the ring. He could have slipped into depression, but instead, he went running.
“But because I’m such a competitive person on September 11 in 2020, I fasted for four days, and then I ran 50 miles,” said Seldin.
Running extremely long distances is nothing new for Seldin. First, he enjoys running, but it’s also one of his prime outlets when he’s feeling down. Something about the activity allows the gravity of his problems to lift off his shoulders.
“It’s something about running long distance,” said Seldin. “When you start hitting that mile 18, everything that you have problems going on in your head disappears. It’s just gone. Because now you don’t give a s**t about anything else that is going on in your life. You’re thinking about surviving. You’re thinking about completing your task in hand. And that happens every single time when you hit around mile 18 and up.”
Seldin is in a much better place a year later. He’s in a new relationship, and he’s the headliner of the October 16 TrillerVerz event. Triller is a new outlet for Seldin, but it’s allowing him to fight in his home state of New York at Barclays Center against William Silva.
Triller has taken a beating lately for its debacle with the Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos fight, but Seldin is just happy to be fighting again.
In truth, there aren’t too many fights that Seldin would turn down. He would consider competing in MMA and even bare-knuckle boxing in the future.
“I’d even do bare-knuckle boxing at this point,” said Seldin. “I definitely would like that. Boxing is just one part of the chapter, and I would definitely 100 percent.”
Catch Seldin in the ring on Oct. 16 on TrillerVerz. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. on FITE.TV.