Dave Weinberg’s Extra Points: Heavyweight Boxers Take On Risk Saturday Night

Ocean City's Cruz DiNofa, Margate’s Ben Gravy, Ocean City’s Rob Kelly or any other local surfer will tell you that constantly riding waist-high waves won’t help much when it comes time tackle 10-foot swells.

The same goes for boxers. First-round victories against overmatched opponents do little to prepare a fighter for more challenging matchups.

Whether they are in the ocean off the coast of Longport or in a boxing ring in Atlantic City, there comes a time when a heavyweight needs to test themselves, to paddle out into deeper water and see if they can stay afloat.

That’s why Saturday’s heavyweight fight between Holy Spirit High School graduate Josh Popper and Absegami alumnus Bruce Seldon Jr. at Tropicana Hotel and Casino is so appealing.

Despite their ages – Popper is 32 and Seldon is 31 – they are groms in the boxing world. Popper (7-0, 6 KOs) and Seldon (8-0, 6 KOs) got off to late starts in their careers and have spent the past few years gaining experience and building their records against some less-than-stellar opposition.

Popper, a former standout football and basketball player at Holy Spirit and football star at Rowan University, had a brief amateur career before turning pro two years ago.

Seldon, son of former WBA heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon, also made his pro debut in 2024 without any amateur background.

Most fighters in that situation wouldn’t take a risk.

“I started when I was 29, so I’m learning on the job,” Seldon said. “I just need to keep getting better and better.”

Both have shown promise in the early going, though they were rarely test.

Popper, who grew up in Egg Harbor Township and now lives and trains in New York, earned his first six wins against opponents with a combined record of 9-34-1.

In his last outing, he posted a six-round, unanimous decision over veteran Rydell Booker (27-14-1), a former contender who has suffered nine straight losses.

Seldon, who moved back to Smithville after living in Las Vegas for a few years, has taken a similar route.

His initial foes were a combined 15-25-1, then he gained a six-round, unanimous decision over rugged Jose Medina (8-2-1).

“My last one was a tough one, and I made it tough on myself,” Seldon said. “I did not do the things I was supposed to do. But just to see that I can get through a tough fight, that when I have nothing in the tank I can dig deep and make it happen, that’s the kind of thing you can’t show until you’re in it.”

Popper and Seldon will undoubtedly get a chance to show it on Saturday.

And they deserve credit for taking the risk.

They could have continued to follow the smooth, pothole-free path traveled by too many boxers and protected their unbeaten records with bouts against less-than-stellar opposition.

Instead, they have decided to try to catch a bigger wave.

The outcome doesn’t really matter. Whether they suffer a wipeout or a knockout, the experience will only serve to make them better prepared for when the next swell rolls in.

PUNCHLINES: There has been some trash-talking among the two fighters and their camps leading up to the fight. Some of it has surrounded their high school backgrounds. Popper’s alma mater (Holy Spirit) and Seldon’s (Absegami) are located approximately six miles apart and are rivals in the Cape-Atlantic League.

“I bleed Blue and Gold,” Popper told Josh Hennig on 973 ESPN South Jersey “I’m a Spartan til I die.”

Popper graduated in 2011 while Seldon received his diploma in 2012.

The perceived meeting between the two football players in the fall of 2010 – Holy Spirit trounced Absegami 42-7 en route to winning a state title - however, never happened. Seldon didn’t play in the game.

In an interesting twist, there’s also a Holy Spirit connection in the opposite corner.

Jim Kurtz, Seldon’s manager and advisor, is a 1991 Holy Spirit grad. His affinity to the school was so strong that in 2010, he joined forces with the late Mike Brestle, Leo Hamlett, Mike Holland and Brian Little to form a boxing promotional company.

Its name?

Spartan Promotions.

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Popper-Seldon is the main event of Boxing Insider Promotions owner Larry Goldberg’s eighth card at the Tropicana.

Six other bouts are scheduled, including a four-round, super-lightweight fight featuring Pleasantville’s Julio Sanchez III (4-1, 3 KOs) against Shawn Rall (4-6, 3 KOs), of Bedford, Ohio.

 Sanchez, a 24-year-old former basketball standout at Pleasantville High School, has notched three straight knockouts. Rall has won two straight.

Tickets start at $51.55 and are available at Ticketmaster.com.