Walter Seeley was a professional American Super Featherweight boxer from Sayville, Long Island, New York, born in the June 11, 1941 on Lower East Side of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Seeley turned pro on October 29, 1963 by fighting a four round draw with Mike Rosario at Sunnyside Garden Arena in

Sunnyside, Queens Sunnyside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It shares borders with Hunters Point and Long Island City to the west, Astoria to the north, Woodside to the east and Maspeth to the south. It contains ...

. Seeley's professional record was 16 wins no losses and two draws when he met tough Dominican fighter Jose Fernandez on October 8, 1971 at the

Felt Forum The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It seats between 2,000 and 5,600, and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is located beneath the main Madiso ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The bout ended in a ten round draw. Two months later on December 10, 1971 at Madison Square Garden Seeley lost for the first time in his career to Jose Fernandez by unanimous decision over ten rounds. After the loss to Jose Fernandez Seeley ran off three straight wins including an impressive eight round decision over Davey Vasquez at Madison Square Garden on June 26, 1972. This fight was on the undercard of the Ken Buchanan,

Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as w ...

Lightweight Championship fight in which

won the title. Seeley followed the Vasquez victory by defeating Jose Fernandez by majority twelve round decision at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 1972. Seeley captured the North American Super Featherweight title with the victory over Jose Fernandez. Seeley would lose the North American Super Featherweight title on March 9, 1973 to world contender Sammy Goss. Seeley suffered another setback when he traveled to the west coast. On April 28, 1973 Seeley was TKO'd in two rounds by former Champion

Rubén Olivares Rubén Olivares Avila (born January 14, 1947) is a Mexican former professional boxer and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame., Olivares was a world champion multiple times, and considered by many as the greatest bantamweight champio ...

at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Seeley returned to New York and defeated Eduardo Santiago by ten round decision at the

in New York City. On August 27, 1973 Seeley defeated Vilomar Fernandez by ten round decision at the

. Vilomar Fernandez is best known for defeating the great champion

Alexis Argüello Alexis Argüello (April 19, 1952 – July 1, 2009) was a Nicaraguan professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 1995, and later became a politician. He was a three-weight world champion, having held the WBA featherweight title from 1974 to 19 ...

. On April 2, 1977 at

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

as a semi-final bout of the U.S. Championship Tournament Seeley lost a ten round unanimous decision to then undefeated Ruben Castillo. Seeley's last professional bout took place on September 30, 1979 at the William Floyd Arena in

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

, Long Island, New York. He defeated Bobby Huff by TKO in five rounds. Seeley boxed as a professional for sixteen years and fought many world contenders and was ranked in the top ten of the Super Featherweight division for a few years. He finished his career with thirty wins, five losses and three draws. Seeley went on to train boxers at the Franklin Boxing Club in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, before passing away on December 28, 2019 at the age of 78.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seeley, Walter 1941 births Boxers from New York City Sportspeople from North Carolina People from Sayville, New York American male boxers Super-featherweight boxers Living people