‘Hebrew Hammer’ Headed For Ring at Huntington's Paramount

Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin, left, will fight on Thursday at The Paramount for promoter Joe DeGuardia’s, right, Star Boxing. Photo Courtesy of Joe DeGuardia

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

Long Island’s own Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin will headline the main event for Joe DeGuardia’s STAR Boxing “Rockin’ Fights 28” at The Paramount this Thursday, Sept. 28.

Seldin, 30, will touch gloves against former French boxing champ Renald “Lion’s Heart” Garrido, according to Seldin’s promoter Joe DeGuardia, a former boxer.

Speaking about his fighter’s upcoming match DeGuardia said, “One of the aspects of this sport is finding the guys who are going to test him and bring out the best in him.”

Seldin was a high school football player and wrestler in Shirley and -- after honing his boxing skills under trainer Peter Brodsky -- came to DeGuardia’s promoting business looking to take his career to the next level.

Since he started boxing professionally, Seldin hasn’t been defeated. He’ll take his 19-0, 16 KOs record into the fight against Garrido (19-15-2, 3 KOs). Seldin is coming off a first-round knockout win over Jesus Selig, a bout fought at The Paramount in June 2016.

This fight will be the 28th time DeGuardia has promoted a Star Boxing match at The Paramount, where Huntington native Chris Algieri, who won the WBO junior welterweight title in 2014, got his start.

“We were looking for a place to develop Chris on Long Island,” DeGuardia said. “As we were looking somebody reached out to us about The Paramount, which was just getting on its feet at that time in 2012.”

DeGuardia described Star Boxing’s relationship with The Paramount as a “great marriage” with spectacular fans who know what to look for in a boxing match. “Seeing a fight at The Paramount is really exciting,” he said.

Growing up in the Bronx, DeGuardia said his earliest memories are of boxing. The boxing fanatic continued to fight throughout his time in Hofstra law school, and remained involved in the business when friends for his boxing days continued to seek his professional help as a lawyer.

“I was born in a boxing family and have been fighting since I was seven," said DeGuardia, who founded Star Boxing in 1992. "And after I stopped boxing I got into the business of boxing.”

The undercard fights, which are slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. (doors 6:30 p.m.) on Thursday, include an eight-round co-feature junior welterweight bout between Danny “El Gallo” Gonzalez (14-0-1, 5 KOs) and Deonte “Bomaye” Wilson (7-2, 3 KOs).

Tickets are $50-$200 and can be purchased from the box office or at Paramountny.com.