By Danny Serratelli (BrickCityBoxing.com) at ringside, Photo by Joey Belnome — Rising Star Promotions once again teamed up with the Showboat Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey to present their 2nd show featuring world class professional boxing. In the main event of the evening, Bruce “The Atlantic City Express” Seldon was impressive in a knockout victory over a very game opponent in Livin Castillo, 14-5, 9 KO’s. Seldon stalked the smaller Castillo for much of the fight, may have under used his big jab and threw his right hand bombs a little wide, but in the end he did a great job of putting together the knockout punches.
Seldon was hit more than he should have been by the awkward southpaw, however he showed good patience, chin, power and hand speed when he needed it. Castillo caught Seldon clean at times and Bruce shook his head which made you wonder if they were not as hard as they looked (Castillo is more of a cruiserweight) or if they were as hard as they looked and were getting Seldon’s attention.. Seldon, to his credit was undeterred as he continued to walk Castillo down and the men often traded very hard clean punches in as exciting fight.
Castillo has only lost to top opposition in the past and has been capable of pulling an upset with larger men as he did with contender Robert Hawkins. Seldon showed his experience and broke his man down, he did not get over anxious and he took Castillo out at exactly the right time when the fight was stopped at .57 of round number 5.
It was a good victory for Seldon that can propel him into a fight of some significance in the near future. Between the current state of the heavyweight division, his name recognition and the fact that Seldon is 3-0 with 3 KO’s in the last year, he may be a viable option for several of the top heavyweights. He makes a good fight, packs a big punch, but is also vulnerable and those qualities are often the ingredients that add up to an interesting match ups.
In the co feature of the evening, undefeated prospect LaJuan Simon, 19-0, 10 KO’s took out a very out matched James Morrow, 11-20, 5 KO’s who took the fight on short notice at 2:23 of round number 1. There was a weight discrepancy when the match up was made, since Simon usually fights at middleweight and Morrow has fought a weight class or two above that. A catch weight was agreed upon and it obviously did not have an impact on Simon’s performance. Simon weighed in at 169, while Morrow weighed in at 173 ½.
In other under card action, Oscar Suarez pupil, Orlando Florida’s Bryne Green, 3-0, 2 KO’s swept on all 3 cards (40-35, 40-34 & 40-34) over another game opponent in Gustavo Dailey who fell to 0-2. Green threw his punches with bad intentions and had Dailey hurt several times in the fight, but the tough opponent from Philadelphia came to fight and forced Green to go the distance for the first time in his young career. Green may be one to watch as he looked not only like a hard puncher, but a patient fighter with a good defense. He was not content to coast to victory as he was still gunning for the knockout late in the fight, an admirable trait in a young fighter.
Delaware’s Mike Tiberi improved his undefeated record to 5-0, 3 KO’s when he stopped William Armstead, 2-6 at 2:13 of the 1st round. Vineland, New Jersey’s Alex Sanchez, 1-0, 1 KO stopped Maryland’s Mario Fisher, 0-2 at 1:53 of round number 1.
Special guests for the evening included long time champion Virgil “Quicksilver” Hill and “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon. The girls of www.Roundcardmodels.com also helped make the night of boxing a success.