Bruce Seldon Takes First Step Towards Redemption

Philadelphia, Pa. - The large crowd squeezed into Philadelphia's ultimate boxing venue, The Legendary Blue Horizon, Saturday night to witness the return of "The Atlantic City Express," former World Heavyweight Champion Bruce Seldon.

Seldon, inactive for close to eight years, didn't disappoint - knocking out his last minute fill-in opponent, and loser in 8 of his last 9 fights, the once formidable Otis Tisdale.

Seldon, justifiably nervous being back in the ring for the first time since his emotionally traumatic and devastating 1st round knockout loss to Mike Tyson in 1996, weathered an early Tisdale body assault before finding his groove. This meant trouble for Tisdale (now 20-15-1), who was fighting on his 35th birthday. Having gone the distance with Ex-World Champion Michael Moorer, as well as highly regarded prospects Malik Scott and Dominick Guinn, Tisdale was unable to stand up to the powerful barrage Seldon was distributing with both hands. Following a menacing combination to the body, a straight right hand by Seldon crushed onto the badly beaten Tisdale's jaw, sending him to the canvas.

Tisdale did manage to get back to his feet but was in no shape to continue as referee Eddie Cotton reached the count of ten and waved a halt to the one-sided bout.

A joyous Seldon, now 34-4 with 30 KO's, later said "I missed boxing, I love the sport. This is all I know. I haven't done anything for eight years. The amiable Seldon also revealed, "I left boxing on a bad note (Tyson fight), winning the title was the best thing that happened to me and losing to Tyson was the worst thing that happened to me. Before that Tyson fight the people loved me. I was exciting, I fought exciting. Now what I can do is return to the ring and rekindle how it was. Maybe I can get another fight with Mike Tyson."

(Writer's note: I was among the many boxing fans who lost much respect for Bruce Seldon after his "shameful" effort as a world champion against Mike Tyson. Today - in regards to Bruce Seldon - some of my faith has been restored. I wish him all the best, and I'm rooting for him).

This Damon Feldman promoted event was billed as the "Champions of Tomorrow Boxing Series" and, fighting on the undercard, unheralded welterweight prospect Said Ouali appears to have the talent and skills to reach boxing's highest level. Not a stranger to the Blue Horizon, Ouali (now 14-1, 8 KO's) turned in another crowd-pleasing show with his dominating performance over Franco Ogentho, who slipped to 15-5 with 9 KO's, earning the unanimous decision victory.

Ouali dropped Ogentho in round two and had the durable, awkwardly stubborn Ogentho hurt throughout much of the six round contest. Only question in this hard fought bout was how Ogentho was still standing at the final bell?

Also on the fightcard.....Oliver Burbage earned his first professional victory over Chris Monroe, who was making his pro debut. Burbage improved to 1-1 with the four round unanimous decision victory. Heavyweight Pavlo Varvarko (2-0) overpowered Rashael Williams (0-2) via 1st round knockout.

Gurcharan Singh outboxed Charles Brown to pick up a six round unanimous decision victory and in the battle of headhunters Horace Cooper, now 5-3-2, gave a boxing lesson to Philadelphia's own Joe Christy (4-6-1), earning a unanimous six round decision win.

Another good fight night in the "City of Brotherly Love". The Blue Horizon is the perfect venue for the true boxing fan and promoter Damon Feldman sent the near capacity crowd home happy and having received their monies worth!

Contact Damon Feldman Promotions (610) 658-1207 or The Blue Horizon (215) 763-0500 for upcoming events.