Other ‘Hebrew Hammer’ Scores TKO

By Elliot Olshansky October 15, 2012

Ryan Braun may be sitting at home and watching as the Major League Baseball playoffs continue but a different “Hebrew Hammer” was in action Saturday night, and certainly lived up to his billing.

Undefeated welterweight boxer Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin improved his pro record to 9-0 on Saturday night, when he defeated Carl “The Assassin” McNickles via TKO in the third round of their co-main event bout at the NYCB Theater in Westbury, N.Y.

Scheduled for eight rounds, Seldin and McNickles both came out looking to make it a short night early on, throwing heavy punches to the head and body in the first two rounds. In the third round, however, Seldin took control, dropping McNickles with a crushing right hand. Chicago native McNickles was able to beat the count and continue the fight, but Seldin picked right up where he left off, finishing McNickles later in the round. It was the seventh career knockout for Seldin, and his sixth consecutive stoppage.

Elsewhere in weekend Jewish sports news:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fullback Erik Lorig matched his career high with his sixth reception of the season on Sunday in a 38-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. With the Bucs backed up to their own two-yard line, the 25-year-old Stanford alum caught a short pass on the left side from Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman, and took it to the 18-yard line before being pushed out of bounds. The 16-yard catch was the longest of the season for Lorig, whose team improved to 2-3 on the season and sits second in NFC south behind undeafeated Atlanta.

The Israeli national soccer team scored a 6-0 victory over Luxembourg on Friday in a World Cup qualifier at Josy Barthel Stadium in Luxembourg City. Tomer Hemed scored a hat trick for Israel, doubling his international goal total in one outing, as Israel moved into third place in its six-team qualifying group. Hemed, who plays his club soccer for Real Mallorca in the top league in Spain, will look to maintain that form on Tuesday, when Israel hosts Luxembourg at Ramat Gan Stadium. That match can be seen in the US at noon ET on Tuesday via WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app on mobile devices.

The NHL season may still be in limbo as the owners and players look to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, but the American Hockey League opened play over the weekend, and several Jewish players distinguished themselves in early-season action. Leading the way was Brett Sterling of the Chicago Wolves, who scored a goal and added an assist as the top minor-league affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Rockford IceHogs, 5-3, on Sunday night at Allstate Arena. Also finding the net over the weekend were Jason Zucker of the Houston Aeros (a goal and an assist in a Sunday loss to the San Antonio Rampage), Trevor Smith of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (the lone Penguins goal in a 2-1 loss to the Binghamton Senators) and Ethan Werek of the Portland Pirates (the first Pirate goal in a 6-3 loss to the Adirondack Phantoms.

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