Josh Popper starches Bruce Seldon Jr in Battle of Atlantic City
Turns out there’s only room for one unbeaten heavyweight in Atlantic City and his name is Josh Popper.
The 32-year-old from nearby Somers Point needed just 30 seconds to finish off his cross-county rival on Saturday night at Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City. A lead left hook, followed by a left uppercut and hook, sent Seldon to the canvas hard, where referee Shada Murdaugh made the right call to wave the fight off without a count. It was Popper’s sixth first round knockout in eight wins against no defeats, while Seldon, 31, drops to 8-1 (6 KOs).
“Nothing more than just me sticking to the game plan,” said Popper, whose outfit was inspired by his high school, the nearby Holy Spirit High in Absecon. “I listened to my team and I was able to get the job done.”
Afterwards, Popper showed respect to his opponent, whom he had once shared a field with when Seldon played football at Absegami High School.
“I told him exactly what I said in the press conference. I said, ‘Win, lose, or draw. I would like to shake your hand after, and I had no doubt that we would become friends after this fight,’” said Popper. “I said, ‘You’re a hell of a man, you’re a hell of an opponent. Thank you so much for taking the fight, this was a big step out for both of us.”
The fight was part of a Boxing Insider Promotions card.
Earlier in the night, Plainfield junior middleweight Kahshad Elliott (8-0, 7 KOs) ended a six-month layoff with a third round stoppage of Oregon’s Scottie Stockman (4-3, 1 KO). Elliot, 25, seemed to put Stockman down any time he touched him, sending him down twice in the first, once on a grazing left hook and another time on a counter right uppercut that didn’t have full body weight behind it. After another round of playing keepaway, Stockman found himself back on the canvas after a right hand from Elliot, ending the six-round fight at the 1:02 mark.
Damian Tinnerello, a middleweight prospect from nearby Berlin, N.J., ended a 15-month layoff with a second round stoppage of Egypt’s Abdalla Nagy Attia (2-5). Tinnerello, an active duty U.S. Air Force member, scored a knockdown late in the first with a right hand that sent Attia’s knee to the canvas. Attia battled back valiantly, occasionally landing overhand rights and snapping hooks, but couldn’t keep up with the barrage of uppercuts and left hooks to the body that Tinnerello was landing. Tinnerello got the stoppage at the 2:58 mark after a sustained barrage along the ropes to improve to 6-0 (5 KOs).
Tinnerello, who also owns and operates West Berlin’s Tinnerello Boxing and Fitness, was out of action due to a shoulder injury sustained last year.
Full results:
Jahanzeb Rizwan W-MD Daniel Keepers (40-36, 40-36, 38-38)
Julio Sanchez III W-UD Shawn Rall (40-35×3)
David Malul W-TKO (2:05 of round 2) Julius Thomas
Willmank Canonico Brito W-TKO (2:14 of round 4) Daiyaan Butt