Fringe junior welterweight contender Cletus Seldin is not going to let one loss define his career.

The hard-hitting Seldin is banking on a huge 2020 where he can face the best in the division in hopes of landing a world title fight.

The 33-year-old Seldin will square off against Colombia’s Luis Eduardo Florez tonight at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, New York. The fight will stream live on Fite.tv  

Seldin (24-1, 20 knockouts), who resides in Brooklyn, New York, last fought on June 7, stopping former undisputed welterweight titleholder Zak Judah in round 11 in Verona, New York. He has won his last three bouts since suffering his only loss at the hands of Yves Ulysse, Jr. in December 2017, a fight in which he was dropped three times, but managed to fight all 10 rounds.

Promoter Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing acknowledged Seldin went into the Ulysse fight less than 100 percent, but has put that loss behind him and is focused on facing the upper echelon of fighters at 140 pounds.

“We did go into the Ulysse fight having fought a month before and Cletus suffered an injury in the fight that required Tommy John surgery afterwards,” DeGuardia told BoxingScene. “It was a long night for Cletus. He makes no excuses. Ulysse was the better man that night.”

“Now that he’s won his last three fights, Cletus is facing a fighter in Florez who defeated (WBO junior lightweight titleholder) Miguel Berchelt. In fact, Florez is the only fighter to have beaten Berchelt. Florez is not an easy fight. He’s a tremendous puncher, but Cletus is the better fighter and has power in each hand.”

Florez (25-15, 21 KOs), who resides in Puerto Libertador, Colombia, stopped Francisco Fuentes in round 5 of his last bout on Dec. 28. The victory snapped a streak of six consecutive losses.

Also fighting on tonight’s card in Huntington is former world heavyweight title challenger Carlos Takam, who will face Fabio Maldonado in an eight-round bout.

Takam (37-5-1, 28 KOs), who is originally from Cameron and now resides in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, recently signed a promotional deal with Star Boxing.

In his last bout to Sept. 14, the 39-year-old defeated Craig Lewis by unanimous decision. He has won his last two fights since he was stopped in round 8 by Dereck Chisora in July 2018. Nine months before the Chisora fight, he challenged IBF and WBA titleholder Anthony Joshua, but was stopped in round 10.

Takam did fight to a draw against Mike Perez and defeated Tony Thompson, but his lost to Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker.

“I’m very confident in Carlos and we’re glad we can move forward,” said DeGuardia. “Carlos is a top-10 heavyweight. He has a lot of pedigree coming out of the (2004) Olympics. He’s a legit contender in the division.”

“He’s facing a dangerous puncher in Maldonado, who has 25 knockouts in 26 victories. An impressive victory puts us back into contention. We’re looking for bigger fights later this year.

Maldonado (26-3, 25 KOs), who resides in Sao Paolo, Brazil, has not fought since May 25 when he was stopped in round 5 at the hands of Michael Hunter. The 39-year-old has lost his last three bouts.

Junior middleweight prospect Wendy Toussaint (10-0, 4 KOs) will take on Jermaine Corley (3-8, 1 NC, 1 KO) of Yonkers, New York in a six-round bout. Toussaint, who is originally from Haiti and now resides in Huntington, defeated Lucius Johnson in his last bout on June 7.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing