Eder Jofre: The Golden Bantam | BoxeoMundial - La Meca del Boxeo
Author: CHRIS SMITH
Description: Few sports can claim to have such a proud and long history as Boxing and whilst it’s generally been the larger men who’ve captivated the public’s interest, many hardcore fans of the sweet science will tell you it’s the so called “little men” that have consistently provided the most compelling action. Possessing a great balance
Date: 2019-04-02T01:56:58+00:00

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# Eder Jofre: The Golden Bantam

#### By CHRIS SMITH

Apr 1, 2019

Few sports can claim to have such a proud and long history as Boxing and whilst it’s generally been the larger men who’ve captivated the public’s interest, many hardcore fans of the sweet science will tell you it’s the so called “little men” that have consistently provided the most compelling action. Possessing a great balance of speed, power and skill it’s generally been the men featherweight (and under) who have given the audience the most bang for their buck. The bantamweight division is one in particular that has, pound for pound some of the hardest hitters in the history of the sport if you just look through the divisions title lineage dating back to 1894.

For most historians the standard bearer for the division is Brazilian legend Eder Jofre. Jofre, who is the oldest living modern boxer inductee of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, was a master of the ring. A complete fighter who had a legendary career that stands out for its dominance and longevity. Jofre’s name perhaps isn’t as known as some of the other great Latin fighters of his time like Roberto Duran, Carlos Monzon and Alexis Arguello but in terms of skill, achievement and greatness, Jofre had few equals. Jofre fought somewhat under the radar with the majority of his fights taking place in South America with very limited exposure to American television. In Brazil he is sporting royalty. He once placed third on a list of the most popular and beloved Brazilian athletes of all-time, placing behind only Pele and the late Formula 1 star Aryton Senna.

The footage available of Jofre is unfortunately limited. There have only been four full fights to emerge and highlights of around 20 further bouts. Unfortunately in the late 1980’s, Globo Network, the TV station that held all of the archive footage burned down leaving it difficult to find footage on this legendary boxing icon. The fights and highlights available show a complete boxer. He was an excellently proportioned boxer with two fisted power and a wide array of punches. His jab was not so much an authoritative one to sit behind and win round after round but more of a probing one to enable him to land his other more hurtful punches. He possessed an excellent left hook whether he was throwing it as a lead punch or as a counter punch. He would also land it with great affect in the middle of his combinations. He had a superb right hand which was equally concussive thrown straight down the middle or as a cross. His uppercuts with both hands were used intelligently and very accurately and he was a truly great body puncher. Jofre was a master boxer who could dominate a fight forcing the initiative or picking off the opponent with expertly timed counter shots.

Throughout the footage you can see of him it’s common to see him change the pace and body language of the opponent once he ripped downstairs. When you combine all that technical excellence with a killer instinct his style was very easy on the eye. His longevity enabled by his excellent foundations, defensive ability and supreme ring intelligence. Jofre would fight out of a semi-crouch, moving forward, whilst keeping his chin tucked in and his hands up. He was adept at slipping and blocking punches and had great counter-punching ability and what seemed like perfect timing.

Truly, a fighter built for 15-rounds, the Brazilian was a distance fighter with great endurance and a rock solid chin. If there’s such thing as the “perfect fighter” his name is close to the top of any shortlist.

The rave reviews came from historians and fellow all-time greats. Willie Pep, the legendary former Featherweight world champion said, “I refereed the Eder Jofre-Johnny Caldwell fight. That Jofre is a helluva fighter. A real bang-bang guy but smart, too. They’d love him here in the States if he ever fights here.” The great Barney Ross, former three-division champion also refereed two of Eder’s bouts and said; “I just thrill at that boy’s performance. He is a marvel of boxing perfection. He does things in the ring that I never expected to see again. There is nothing he cannot do.” Considering that between these two legends they fought the likes of Henry Armstrong, Jimmy McLarnin, Tony Canzoneri, Battling Battalino, Sandy Saddler, Sammy Angott, Manuel Ortiz, and Chalky Wright and saw the likes of Joe Louis, Charles Burley, Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, Sugar Ray Robinson those are very high praises indeed.

The beginning

Eder Jofre was born on March 26th, 1936 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was born in the Rua do Seminario neighborhood of the city inside a boxing gym owned by an ex-boxer from Rosario, Argentina by the name of Aristides Jofre. Known as “Kid” Jofre, the Argentinean trained boxers from Sao Paulo Football club in the gym located in the north eastern part of the city.

Aristides, whose parents were Spanish and French had moved to Brazil around the time he was 25 and became a Brazilian citizen. “Kid” Jofre was from a boxing family and along with his brothers heavily influential in the amateur boxing scene of Sao Paulo. Argentina was a nation with a deep affection for the sweet science and Aristides imported those teachings over to Brazil.
“Kid” Jofre fought a handful of professional bouts in Argentina before beginning his career as a trainer. Aristides studied physical education and became a sports coach. In addition to teaching boxing he also taught basketball. Throughout his career he trained a few Brazilian champions, such as, Jorge Sacomã and Paulo Sacomã, Luizão, Kaled Cury, Ralph Zumbano and a South American champion, Pedro Galasso.

It was in Sao Paulo where he met Angelina Zumbano, the daughter of Italian immigrants. The Zumbano clan originated from Calabria, a coastal region in the south of Italy. The family had a heavy involvement in wrestling so you could say that fighting blood ran through Eder’s veins. “Whoever entered the family entered the boxing world”, Jofre said.

Aristides began teaching his son, Eder the basics and fundamentals of boxing at the age of three. Eder grew up poor but insists that “If I came back to this world again I’d come back to Parque Peruche and do it at a time we had no facilities whatsoever”, he said. “This neighborhood was the most wonderful thing I had as a child. I used to play with a stroller – which we used to do -, hide and seek, jump rope … Things that today’s kids do not even know what they are. It was a very good time. And, fortunately, God looked at me and gave me that desire to train and fight in boxing. From a little boy I would put my gloves on with my uncles, the Zumbanos and played with others in the neighborhood. I always did well and beat the guys, because my father was the one who taught me how to fight, to have the correct guard, to release the blows correctly. Not like today, the guys throw punches with the elbow open, the glove open. I do not even know how I watch these fights”, said Eder reminiscing about his childhood.

As a youngster Jofre’s favorite boxers were Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson but like most Brazilians, Jofre had a passion for Football. He played as a left-winger and said he was the highest scorer on his team. Eder’s interest in football disappointed his father who felt his son had what it takes to make something out of boxing. “For me, playing football was fun. But it was of disgust to my father. There was a time when I did not go to the gym and I told him that I thought I was going to be a football player. He was hurt, he was like, ‘Eder, you got a way for boxing. You’re good; if you were not. I would not allow you to fight’. He encouraged me in this direction and I ended up training again, for real”, said Jofre reflecting on the influence of his father behind his decision to dedicate his sporting efforts into boxing.

Jofre hadn’t fully committed to making boxing his sole profession yet as he was an architecture student. His son, Marcel explained: “The first career he had chosen was that of a draftsman. So much so that even made a course of architectural design in a school that was in the center of the city, the ‘Lyceum of Arts and Craft’. However, an accident occurred in which the roof of the school fell and all his material was lost. As he did not have the money to buy the material again, he ended up kind of opting for boxing. To be honest, I am thankful everyday for that ceiling dropping”, he said, clearly happy that his father would go on to become a great boxer and sporting icon in his country.

Amateur days
It was in his early teens that Jofre had decided that he was going to make a career of boxing and started to enter amateur tournaments. He was very successful winning multiple tournaments the first was Sesi’s Championship in 1952, at the age of 16. He followed that success by winning a tournament hosted by Gazetta Esportiva, he won little league and junior league championships. The fast rising prodigy was two times Sao Paulo champion, two times Brazilian champion, he won Ramon Platero’s cup and the Golden Gloves before qualifying to represent Brazil in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.

At the age of 20 Jofre went to Melbourne boxing for his country in the flyweight category. He reached the quarter finals and would be defeated by Claudio Barrientos of Chile by decision. Jofre claims this was a balanced fight that he deserved to win but laments the fact that he was unable to perform at his best due to an injury sustained in sparring. The smallest sparring partner available during his time in Melbourne was a lightweight from Rio Di Janeiro by the name of Celestino Pinto and Jofre injured his nose sparring with him which affected his breathing during the Barrientos fight. His final amateur record read 148-2 with the two losses being the defeat to Barrientos and a points defeat to Uruguay’s Aniceto Pereyra in Montivideo, Uruguay at the Campeonato Latino Americano just a month prior to the Melbourne games.

Professional career
The professional journey would begin at Ginásio Estadual do Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo on March, 29th 1957 just three days after Eder’s 21st birthday. Jofre entered the paid game with a 4th round knockout of Argentine Raul Lopez. The competition was fairly modest until his 8th fight where he would come face to face with a very talented Argentinean by the name of Ernesto Miranda. Miranda, who would go on to have a very successful career was entering his 20th fight and held a clear advantage in experience. The pair fought two draws in back to back contests putting the first blemishes on the record of the Brazilian up and comer. In those days draws were very common in South American boxing because of a rule which stated that if a fight went the full distance there would only be a victor if one of the contestants had won by four or more points on at least two cards. Jofre led on the cards but not by the necessary amount to keep his 100% winning record intact. The 20 rounds the pair shared together helped tremendously with the development of both young fighters.

Jofre who had been adjudged to be a blue chip prospect by the local media was critiqued slightly for being slightly rough around the edges and lacking top level infighting skills. At the end of his first full year as a professional boxer his record read 10-0-2 and he had already fought 90 rounds whilst showing an increasing ability to adapt and improve his game on a fight to fight basis. This would be a constant throughout the first few years of his career as he morphed into one of the most well rounded and complete boxers the sport has ever seen.

In 1958 he would fight 11 times as he gained even more valuable experience. By this time his punching technique and power was improving as was his opposition. He went to Uruguay and was on the wrong end of a controversial draw in Ruben Caceres’ hometown and would suffer the first knockdown of his career against then unbeaten Jose Smecca. Smecca from Argentina, would go on to have a rather long and successful career on the South American circuit scored a brief flash knockdown in the second round before Jofre caught up to him and knocked him out in the 7th round.

Roberto Castro was by far the most experienced fighter the young Brazilian ace had faced up to this point sporting a record of 56-5-8 with included two decision losses to one Ernesto Miranda, the first being for the bantamweight championship of Argentina, the second being contested for the bantamweight championship of South America. Jofre destroyed Castro in the second round closing out the year with a record of 20-0-3.

The following year saw Jofre go from being a hot prospect on the South American scene to a top contender on the world scene. He would enter the ring nine times in 1959 facing some top international fighters in addition to separating himself from other South American talent. He avenged the first of his two amateur defeats when he beat undefeated Uruguayan hopeful Aniceto Pereya and destroyed Caceras in 7 one-sided rounds in a return of their controversial draw on Uruguayan soil.
The international opponents brought over to Brazil included Gianni Zuddas an Italian veteran of 75 fights was dominated over 10 rounds and a pair of Filipino’s Leo Espinosa and Danny Kid lasted the distance but both were routed by the fast rising Brazilian. These fights were particularly important because the Filipinos were world ranked and vastly experienced. Kid was the reigning champion of North America (he lived in California) and held wins over Jose Medel, Toluco Lopez, Billy Peacock and Dwight Hawkins. Jofre dropped him three times but credited Kid with being the strongest opponent of his career, “He took a lot; his resistance was incredible. I knocked him down three times during the fight and I won on points”, Jofre would later say in his appraisal of the Filipino.

1960 would prove to be a pivotal one as Jofre set out to make history becoming the first Brazilian fighter to capture a world championship. Before he would face a final elimination Jofre was pitted against two former foes as he sought to clean out the best of what South America had to offer. Ernesto Miranda, now the continents champion and with a record of 40-3-4 had continued to grow his reputation and had his own desires set on becoming world champion. He would meet Jofre on February 19th, 1960 at Jofre’s favorite local venue Ginásio Estadual do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo. This time Jofre would win by a big enough margins on the scorecards to finally defeat Miranda and in the process took his South American championship. As was the case the last time the two fought in 1957, Jofre agreed to face Miranda in his very next fight. There was a bit of a rivalry and Miranda claimed to be unhappy having lost on a decision in Jofre’s hometown though there are no such reports of a controversial nature to the bout simply just a fierce competitor pointing the finger in an attempt to justify a loss. Miranda made the fight personal and hurled a number of personal insults at Jofre and even went so far as to sending crude messages and letters to his family. The 4th fight left no doubt whatsoever as to who was the superior boxer as Jofre destroyed Miranda in three one-sided rounds much to the delight of the 20,000 fans packed into Ginásio Estadual do Ibirapuera.

Next was another familiar foe in the shape of Claudio Barrientos, the Chilean who’d defeated Jofre at the Melbourne Olympics of 1956. That defeat was still a thorn in Jofre’s side as he had felt the loss was unjust so he set out to prove who the better fighter was. The professional fight wasn’t much of a contest with Jofre scoring eight knockdowns stopping his helpless opponent inside eight woefully lopsided rounds. Jofre, at this point was a complete boxer entering his peak aged 24 with a record of 34-0-3 having defeated every man he’d faced in dominant fashion. At this point he was making headlines in Brazil and held the hopes of a nation but to North American boxing fans he was more of a curiosity, a fighter who’s name appeared in the rankings and in the win columns but not in their rings or their television screens. This was about to change.

Eder Jofre vs. Jose Medel I, August 18th, 1960, Los Angeles, California

In a final elimination bout to determine the top contender for Jose Becerra’s crown Jofre was pitted against tough Mexican warrior Jose Medel. Medel was already a young veteran of 62 bouts having defeated such top contenders as Eloy Sanchez, Danny Kid, Leo Espinosa, Johnny Sarduy and Toluco Lopez. The bout took place on August 18th, 1960 at the legendary Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. This was Eder’s first bout outside of South America and would perhaps be considered the most entertaining of his career and one of the all-time classic bantamweight bouts.

Medel was a patient boxer who was an expert counter puncher with damaging power in both fists and that style meshed with Jofre’s to produce a fierce battle. Jofre, started out the faster of the two taking the first couple of rounds as both fighters sized each other up and then in the fifth round a firefight broke out. Jofre hurt Medel badly at the end of the round before the bell stopped and then fought with a bit more caution in the next few rounds preferring to look for counters having felt the power of the Brazilian. In the ninth round the war reached its peak once Jofre hurt Medel and went in for the kill. It seemed Jofre was about to stop Medel when he was countered and hurt by the Mexican, who then proceeded to hammer away at Jofre on the ropes, breaking his nose and taking the momentum of the fight until Jofre landed an expertly timed counter left hook that shook Medel badly but just as happened in the 5th round the bell rang denying Jofre the chance to finish his man.

Words of wisdom from “Kid” Jofre
It was at this moment between rounds where Jofre accredits his father with winning the fight for him, “I went to my corner bleeding, my nose was hurt I couldn’t even breathe right. There was blood going down my throat and my liver was in pain. That’s when my father said, ‘Eder, sit down. How are you feeling? I said I don’t know if I can, he said ‘Yes, you can. You can. Breathe deeply’, he then started fanning me with the towel and massaging my stomach. I started to get better. He cleaned me up and everything and then said, ‘Eder, come down hard on him because he felt your punch. The Brazilian people are cheering for you. Your mother is cheering for you. You can win.’ After feeling such support I went back to the ring very well protected. I came down on him pretty hard using my technique. He didn’t hit me anymore and I was landing punches from above and below. I hit him on the liver and he felt it, I punched him to the ropes and he was going from left to right and then he opened his guard and he hurried and hit him with a straight left to his chin and he fell flat on the floor”.

At this point the bell rang again but this time there was nothing left in Medel as his corner carried him to his stool where he couldn’t fully regain consciousness and the bout was stopped before the 11th round making Jofre a knockout and now the leading contender for the bantamweight world championship.

“It was a very hard fight. I had to lose approximately four pounds on the day of the fight. By the time of the fight I was exhausted but it was the opportunity of a lifetime so I did my best.” When reflecting back on his career Jofre selected Medel as both his hardest fight and his toughest opponent. “He was the most complete fighter I fought. He provided me with the necessary security to become champion of the world”, said Jofre. He said that fight had given him the belief that no matter who was put in front of them he would be victorious.

Eder Jofre vs. Eloy Sanchez, November 18th, 1960, Los Angeles, California

Jofre was back in Los Angeles at the Grand Olympic Auditorium on November 18th to fight for the world bantamweight title against Eloy Sanchez. Jose Becerra had been the champion previously but had recently retired after a knockout defeat to Eloy Sanchez in a non-title affair just 12 days after Jofre had defeated Jose Medel.

Sanchez was a tough competitor but didn’t have Becerra’s profile which it was why it was considered such a big upset when he knocked the champion out in eight rounds. Sanchez however did boast some impressive performances including a win and draw with Ignacio Pina and a split pair of bouts with Medel.

Jofre entered the ring to some hostility from the Mexican fans who shouted to him “Jofre, Sanchez will kill you!”, “Sanchez is going to knock you out!” which affected the visiting fighter not one iota. Jofre feeling invigorated from the Medel fight found Sanchez to be a far easier task the night he became Brazil’s first world champion.

Jofre dominated the action from the start of the contest before an action packed sixth round. In this round sensing that the bout was slipping away from him, Sanchez showed a lot of aggression moving forward and connecting with an uppercut that knocked Jofre’s mouthpiece out. He followed up throwing a flurry of punches but the Brazilian landed a perfect counter right cross that separated the Mexican from his sense. The referee counted Sanchez out and raised Jofre’s arm as his vanquished opponent lay motionless on the canvas.

“He had me bleeding from the nose. I didn’t mind that. A bloody nose was an old story for a guy who begun taking his lumps in our family gym as a little fellow. I just kept looking for an opening for a straight right. The round was almost half over when I saw it. I dropped it in to the jaw, nice and short. He went down hard and it was the finish for him – and the beginning for me as champion” said Jofre when remembering this historical moment.

On a special presentation in 2010 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this bout Globo TV network in Brazil had Sanchez flown in from Mexico to reunite with Jofre and discuss this bout. Sanchez was very complementary discussing the talents and merits of the Brazilian, “”He was a great champion, very strong, very tough, his technique was perfect and he was a consistent boxer with heavy hands.” Sanchez expressed sadness at being unable to win the world title but continued his praise for Jofre, “It’s always sad, but the title was in good hands. Eder was a tremendous fighter. I have a lot of affection for him. For sure he was the toughest opponent of my career, in the form of striking and withstanding punches. He fired tremendous punches and eventually knocked me out.”

Homecoming
Fresh with his newly acquired world championship belt in tow, Jofre arrived at the International airport in Sao Paulo to a raucous rapport with over 100,000 Brazilians waiting to get a glimpse of their idol. Jofre insisted that the procession pass through Parque Peruche, the neighborhood where he had grown up and learned to box. The new champion wasted no time getting back into the ring to display his talents in front of his people by facing experienced American fighter Billy Peacock in Sao Paulo 28 days removed from the Sanchez fight. Peacock was an experienced fighter who’d fought a who’s who of his era but at this point was well and truly an opponent level fighter made to order. Jofre would dispatch him in the second round sending a warning to division that he was not resting on his laurels and intended to forge an impressive title campaign.

Eder Jofre vs. Piero Rollo, March 25th, 1961, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

The newly crowned champion returned home for his first defense of the title when he faced the vastly experienced and highly skilled Italian Piero Rollo. The homecoming took place at Estádio de General Severiano in Rio de Janeiro and was an impressive one for the champion. Rollo, a veteran of 65 bouts had been the Italian and European champion but was fighting outside of Europe for the first time and also making his maiden world title bid. Throughout his career he’d defeated such fighters as Mimoun Bel Ali, Pierre Cossemyns, Jackie Brown, Alphonse Halmini and Mario D’Agata.

Jofre proved too fast and complete for Rollo as he dominated the contest from the start. Rollo tried to test the young champion early by fighting aggressively from the beginning which proved to be a mistake as Jofre was able to slip and block his attacks and punish Rollo in return. Jofre rocked the challenger twice with left hooks in the fifth round and opened some nasty cuts on the Italians face. Jofre, using his intelligence took a lot of the energy out of his rival by landing multiple hurtful body punches throughout the contest. At the end of the ninth round with blood flowing down the beaten challengers face, the commission with the consent of his manager halted the contest declaring Jofre a winner by TKO.

Staying busy
In the time between title defenses Jofre intended to remain active to further enhance his skills and stay sharp. After the Rollo fight he took two non-title bouts, one against a limited Surinamese boxer called Sugar Ray who was dispatched in the second round, with the other coming against a very capable Japanese boxer by the name of Sadao Yaoita. Yaoita had made a name for himself becoming the first fighter to defeat the great Pascual Perez, the dominant flyweight champion of the era. Yaoita had lost decisions in a re-match with Perez and a final eliminator to the highly regarded Ramon Arias.

The Japanese fighter was competitive in this fight, managing to win a few rounds but over the course of the bout Jofre found his range landing his left hook with more frequency until he finished off the bout in the 10th round.

Back on the road: Venezuela
Jofre’s second title defense would come on the road against the aforementioned Arias in Caracas, Venezuela. Just as Yaoita had lost in a title bid to Perez so too had Arias, who’d been the first Venezuelan to ever box for a world title. He had learned a lot from that bout going on an impressive run of victories which included Yaoita, Billy Peacock, Edmundo Esparza, Mimoun Ben Ali and Ramon Calatayud which set him up for the challenge of Jofre’s title.

Ring magazine founder and boxing historian Nat Fleischer travelled to Venezuela as one of the three judges to this bout and waxed lyrical about the performance of Jofre in this bout comparing him to some of the greatest fighters in history, “He is by far the best the division has had in many years. Clever, a powerful left hooker, a stand-up boxer who has learned much of the technique of past masters; Jofre stands out as did Ray Robinson for many years in the welter and middleweight divisions. He can give and take punishment, blocks well, and like Benny Leonard can make his opponent fight the way he wants him to. Watching Jofre against Arias, champion of Venezuela, I was reminded of the days when the bantam class boasted a score of top, hard socking fighters”, said Fleischer in his ringside report for this magazine.

Arias gave a good account of himself in the fight managing to maintain a high pace but ultimately the harder, more accurate blows dished out by Jofre slowed him down and in the 7th round the Brazilian unleashed a painful blow to the body which put the brave challenger on the canvas and out for the count.

A non-title fight against a Portuguese fighter by the name of Fernando Goncalves followed with Jofre winning inside the distance. At this time Jofre was the NBA (now WBA) and lineal bantamweight champion of the world but the BBBC (British Boxing Board of Control) recognized Northern Ireland’s Johnny Caldwell as their champion. Caldwell had beaten former champion Alphonse Halmini in May of 1961 and repeated that victory five months later. Jofre had the recognition of the NBA, EBU (European Boxing Union) and Ring Magazine but still not the full recognition he was looking for.

Eder Jofre vs. Johnny Caldwell, January 18th, 1962, Sao Paulo, Brazil

On January 18th, 1962 Jofre would finally get his chance to eradicate any claim that he was the one true champion in the bantamweight division when he squared off with Johnny Caldwell. Caldwell entered the ring at Ginásio Estadual do Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo with impeccable credentials. He had registered a bronze medal at the same Melbourne Olympics of 1956 which Jofre had competed and he entered the ring with an unblemished 25-0 mark. He had twice defeated former champion (Alphonse) Halmini of France in addition to beating most of the leading bantamweights in Europe.

Caldwell had made some pre-fight remarks that caused Jofre some anger. He had been quoted as saying, “I haven’t come across the Atlantic to lose my title to a bunch of monkeys. I come from the home of Boxing”. Caldwell would come to regret his pre-fight barbs after receiving a thrashing for 10 rounds at the hands of the Brazilian. Caldwell performed gallantly but was outgunned suffering a bloodied nose and two knockdowns before his manager threw the towel in during the 10th round. Jofre simply overwhelmed Caldwell with a powerful barrage of stinging left jabs and accurate left hooks. Reflecting back on this fight, Jofre said, “I worked so hard to put Brazil’s name on the map and for this guy to come here talking all that crap? I kicked his butt and I did it on purpose.” Jofre, a proud Brazilian had taken exception to the comments of Caldwell and admitting to prolonging the beating. Caldwell was never quite the same again though still competed in some big fights on the British circuit against Freddie Gilroy and Alan Rudkin.

Years later Caldwell was full of praise for his conqueror, “Eder Jofre was the greatest bantamweight and the hardest hitter for his weight of all time,” he said. “I remember the place was packed to the rafters and there were many thousands locked outside the arena. I just couldn’t get to terms with him on the night, maybe it was the heat of the crowd, but it was an unbelievable occasion which I will never forget. As it turned out, it was my first defeat as a professional and it was very hard for me to take.”

Back to California
Now sitting atop the bantamweight division ruling with an iron fist, Jofre was the universally accepted undisputed ruler of the division. He accepted a title challenge from a Mexican boxer named Herman Marques in a bout which would send the Brazilian back to California. Instead of going back to Los Angeles it was San Francisco this time.

Marques was based out of nearby Stockton and the support of the crowd was largely in his favor. Marques didn’t own a particularly glossy record at 19-8-1 but he had been matched tough from the start of his career and had earned the title shot beating Billy Peacock, Danny Kid, Ignacio Pina and a final eliminator against Carlos Hernandez. The fight proved to be one of the more difficult ones in recent times for the Brazilian as Marques held his own, winning a number of rounds before succumbing to the power punches Jofre unleashed in the 10th round.

Eder Jofre vs. Jose Medel II, September 11th, 1962, Sao Paulo, Brazil
On September 11th, 1962 Jofre would defend his title against Jose Medel in a re-match to their classic encounter two years earlier in Los Angeles. The re-match took place at Ginásio Estadual do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo after Jofre accepted the Mexican’s challenge. “As an athlete I gave him a chance. He asked me for a chance to fight me again and I said alright but this time in Brazil” said Jofre.

Since the first fight Medel had been very impressive going unbeaten in ten fights. He scored a victory over Herman Marques for the North American Bantamweight title and defended his Mexican title with impressive knockout victories over the formidable Toluco Lopez and Ignacio Pina. He’d also beaten such noteworthy foes as Manny Elias, Mitsunori Seki and Sadao Yaoita in preparation for his first attempt at the world title.

Jofre was much more dominant in the re-match scoring a much more straightforward victory than the first bout. After a couple of feel out rounds, Jofre warmed up and took the initiative with a vicious attack using all the punches in his arsenal. Jofre scored a knockdown at the end of the fifth round and halfway through the sixth round the Brazilian expertly ended the fight with a right hand to the chin which sent Medel down for a full count.

Remembering the re-match victory with the Mexican Jofre said, “Poor man. I say that because on the day of the fight he even cried. He saw me up there totally fit. I didn’t have to lose weight. This fight was much easier than the first one”.

Medel, undeterred would continue terrorizing the rest of the bantamweight division scoring some of his biggest career wins against such men as Fighting Harada, Jesus Pimentel, Edmundo Esparza, Ray Asis and Walter McGowan. He was a brilliant fighter in his own right but the Brazilian had no equal in his peak.

Recognition from “The Bible of Boxing”
In 1963 the champion received the honor of being the cover fighter on the 500th issue of The Ring magazine. The recognition was a huge honor for any fighter but especially for a fighter in the bantamweight division. Jofre had gained a reputation as the world’s greatest fighter pound for pound with the cover story asking the question, “The world’s best fighter?”

The article title “A small Sugar”, a reference to the great Sugar Ray Robinson, often tabbed as the greatest boxer of all-time. Nat Loubet wrote the following, “Ever so seldom the ring produces a fighter about whom it is said that he is the greatest in decades for his poundage. Such a standout was Ray Robinson. Now, with Sugar Ray on the wane, there is another spectacular scrapper on whom that “pound-for-pound label” of superiority and domination looks good. That man is Eder Jofre, the Brazilian, who holds the bantamweight championship of the world. There have been bantamweight champions galore since the days of Charley Lynch, who ruled the class as far back as 1856.”

Asian invasion

Jofre’s activity slowed down this year with just two bouts, both title defenses in Asia. The first was against a young Japanese fighter by the name of Katsutoshi Aoki with a record of 33-1-1.Aoki had earned his shot at the title with impressive victories over two previous Jofre victims, Piero Rollo and Leo Espinosa.

Aoki set a frantic pace from the outset of the bet moving from different angles and simply outworking the champion over the first two rounds. According Tony Petronella, one of the judges for the bout Jofre bore a look of discouragement, “sitting glumly in his corner, a puzzled look creasing his face, the usually happy-go-lucky champion half-listened to the barking orders of his corner men. Jofre seemed worried. Looking up at the 27-year-old champ from ringside, where I was serving as one of the judges, I noticed a certain tautness about him”, said Petronella.

The third round brought out the best in Jofre after he appeared agitated by some of the rough tactics the Japanese contender employed. Jofre stepped up his pace and started to rein punches from different angles on Aoki before landing a sweeping left hand on the midsection of the aggressive challenger which sent him to the canvas. The brave young fighter got up and received a mandatory eight count before Jofre moved in and landed another crippling left hand which caused Aoki to let out a loud scream before he was counted out. Seemingly in awe of the champion Aoki was gracious in defeat stating he had felt the first knockdown punch, “but I didn’t know what hit me the second time. That man has a terrific punch.”

Six weeks after the Aoki victory Jofre was back on Asian soil defending his title against another leading contender. Johnny Jamito of the Philippines was given a title fight in front an adoring home crowd and the hometown hero gave a good account of himself presenting the pound for pound marvel with some issues in the early rounds before Jofre took over and began to dominate.

This was a consistent theme with most contenders who challenged Jofre; they were talented and clearly earned their shot at the title but once Jofre warmed up and began turning up the gears few could survive the onslaught. Jamito met his end at the end of the 11th round whilst hopelessly trailing on points he was dropped with a devastating left-right combination and his corner retired him before the 12th round. Jofre credited Jamito with being a talented young fighter worth keeping an eye on, “He (Jamito) is a brainy fighter. He uses his head. I did not expect him to be such a good fighter. It will take a good boxer with a good punch to beat him”, Jofre said after the bout.

Back on the road: Colombia
Eder Jofre vs. Bernardo Caraballo, November 27th, 1964, Bogota, Colombia
On November 27th, 1964 Jofre was coming off of his longest layoff as a professional to date when he went into the hostile territory of Bogota, Colombia to face local favorite Bernardo Caraballo. By this time the champion had been facing a long battle getting down to the bantamweight limit and had a blockbuster fight with the popular Jesus Pimentel cancelled. Jofre vs. Pimentel was initially scheduled for San Antonio, Texas where a lack of local interest led to the promoters cancelling the venue and Pimentel refused to go to Brazil.

Caraballo was an excellent contender who came into the fight with an undefeated record 0f 39-0-1 and boasted victories over Ramon Arias, Pascual Perez, Manny Elias, Piero Rollo, Carlos Miranda, Waldemiro Pinto and Chartchai Chionoi. He was a skilled boxer known more for his smooth skills, intelligence and technical boxing than his punching power.

32,000 fans packed into Plaza de Toros Santamaria to see if their local hero could upset the great champion. It turned out to be one of Jofre’s finest performances as he dominated the bout from the outset. He used his vast experience and intelligence to see what Caraballo had throughout the first four rounds. Jofre would attack and land with ferocity and then move out of range and look to counter the Colombian. Jofre upped the ante in the fifth round satisfied that he knew enough about Caraballo that it was only a matter of time. The champion started to come in more aggressively and mix in more combinations and in the seventh round finished the bout with a hard left hook followed up with two fast rights that dropped the brave challenger for the count.

It was Jofre’s eighth title defense and 17th straight knockout victory after an easier fight than anyone but Jofre had anticipated. “It was an easy fight. I knew I had him when I hurt him with that left hook in the fifth round. I was feeling him out and trying to tire him in the first four rounds. Everything went according to plan. Caraballo is a good fighter, but he has lots to learn” said Jofre after the fight.

Eder Jofre vs. Fighting Harada, May 18th, 1965, Nagoya, Japan
On May 18th, 1965 at Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya, Jofre came face to face with former flyweight word champion Masahiko “Fighting” Harada. Harada had excellent credentials as a former world champion he’d grown into the bantamweight division scoring victories over Ray Asis and Katsotoshi Aoki. A notable common opponent was Jose Medel, the fierce Mexican who’d twice fallen short against Jofre. In a 1963 bout Harada seemed to be having his way with Medel, constantly attacking him landing plenty of leather until Medel caught Harada badly in the sixth round and finished him off, dropping the hard charging Japanese fighter three times. It was partly this and the fact that Jofre was considered pound for pound the world’s best boxer and nearly unbeatable that the Brazilian was expected to come back from Japan with his world title intact.

Around this time Jofre was 29 which was considered old for this weight class and had been contemplating retirement or a move into the featherweight division. He had been having an increasingly difficult time getting down to the bantamweight limit which he had campaigned at since his debut almost a decade earlier.

Prior to the fight Harada was respectful of Jofre claiming that he was “a great fighter”, before adding confidently that he “wasn’t scared of him”. Harada proved to be a worthy foil for the defending champion, moving in from different angles with excellent speed and creativity in his offense. This was not new to Jofre, who’d often look at an opponent for a few rounds, feel them out and then blast them out but this time it was Harada who struck the hardest blow of the contest in the fourth round sending the great champion back to the ropes and hammering away. Jofre was struggling to keep up with the torrid pace of the Japanese dynamo before he got his way back into the fight with his precise punching and superior technique.

Jofre came back well in the fifth round landing some picturesque combinations which stopped Harada in his tracks and he slowly began to chip away at the deficit. After Harada had started to use his jab in the center of the ring to good affect Jofre, now with a major sense of urgency seemed on the verge of a stoppage victory in the 11th round but didn’t quite have the energy to finish his foe off. Perhaps this is partly due to the fact his energy was depleted from the struggle making weight but it also must be noted that Harada was a very determined fighter with a problematic style. He was a truly great fighter worthy of his own chapter in the sports illustrious history.

The bout was closely contested down to the wire and the decision went to the hometown hero by way of split decision. The verdict was deemed controversial and Jofre still feels he was unjustly relieved of his crown. “I won that fight clearly. Japanese people would come up to me and say ‘you won’ which helped me with the pain of losing the title”. Jofre was also critical of the refereeing of Barney Ross claiming that he missed a lot of head butts and failed to penalize the Japanese fighter for what he felt was too much holding. The fight in reality was very much and open for interpretation depending on what you are looking for. Harada, inspired by a partisan crowd definitely set the pace and was the busier of the two whereas Jofre was the superior opponent technically landing the cleaner blows consistently throughout the bout. Years later when reflecting on his own great career, Harada gave Jofre the upmost respect stating, “I am most proud of the fact that I was able to beat a great champion like Jofre.” Harada gave a lot of credit to the resolve and the power that the Brazilian had, adding “I had him on the verge of a knockout in the fourth, and he came out in the fifth to have me on the verge of being knocked out. He was a fierce opponent. Jofre’s power-punching was beyond description.”

No longer champion
In December, 1965 Jofre, now an ex-champion took a fight with a capable American contender by the name of Manny Elias. The bout took place back in Eder’s hometown marking the first fight on Brazilian soil in over three years. Jofre was ahead on all three scorecards but the bout was declared a draw on the South American scoring system. It was noted after this fight that Jofre had began to look like a spent force and the fighter himself had been vocal about seriously contemplating retirement saying, “If it goes on like this, I think the time has come to hang up my gloves.”

Eder Jofre vs. Fighting Harada II, May 31st, 1966, Tokyo, Japan
Jofre made the trip back to Japan in an attempt to reclaim the title he’d held so dominantly for so long. The return was set for May 31st, 1966 this time in Tokyo. To ensure that he get back down to the limit of 118lbs, Jofre had a dietician to his team to help him keep his weight close to the limit up to fight week.

This fight didn’t quite follow the same pattern though there were a number of similarities. Harada boxed a bit more but also used a number of spoiling tactics whereas Jofre had the superior technique and individual cleaner punches. Harada again maintained a furious pace and had the busier work rate.

This time it was Jofre who started the faster of the two using his boxing skills to take the majority of the early rounds but Harada began to get his way back into the fight and down the stretch he would sweep the championship rounds. Jofre looked like an old fighter late in the fight as he lacked the energy to put forth a consistent attack and bled profusely from a cut caused by one of the many head butts Harada connected to him. Harada lost a point on a foul but had closed the gap enough to take another decision victory.

There was less talk of a robbery this time with the general consensus that Jofre had simply emptied the tank and lost fair and square. It was yet again a very close fight very much open for interpretation but Harada felt more certain of this victory after admitting he felt “lucky to win” the first fight, Harada said “I thought he hit a lot harder in Nagoya”.

Once again the officiating was criticized by Jofre’s camp this time manager Abraham Katzenelson taking aim at referee Nick Pope saying, “Without that dirty headwork the result would have been different” in reference to the discomfort Jofre suffered from the head butts of Harada.

Harada would go on to defend his titles a further two times turning back the challenge of former Jofre victims Bernardo Caraballo and Jose Medel in very close matches. The Medel fight was particularly tough with Harada hanging on to avoid a knockout in the last round. He would lose his title on a unanimous decision to the brilliant Lionel Rose after his own mighty struggle with the scale. Harada would be on the wrong end of a hometown decision in 1969 losing a wildly unpopular decision to Australian Johnny Famechon in a bid for his third world title, this time at featherweight. He was knocked out in a return and retired at the age of 27 with a hall of fame record of 55-7-1. When assessing the greatest fighter he shared the ring with there was no doubt in Harada’s mind it was Jofre: “Without a doubt the best I faced was Jofre. When I challenged him for the first time in 1965, no one predicted that I would beat the unbeaten champion, and it actually was a tough fight. I had moments where I almost had him out (fourth round), but there were moments where he almost had me out (fifth round). It was like a dream to beat Jofre. Starting with Jofre, my era had many great bantamweight fighters. Because of them, “I have to train harder” is what I told myself as I trained. I am very appreciative of these men for giving me the motivation to be better”, he said.

The end of the road (for now)

After the disappointment of the Harada losses and at the age of 30, Jofre was now considered a used up once great prizefighter. 30 was considered ancient for men in those weight classes and with years struggling to get down to the limit of 118 lbs and a lot of mileage from multiple championship bouts Jofre retired from boxing. This decision was basically made upon his arrival back home after the re-match with Harada where he arrived to a lot less fanfare than was the case on previous international conquests.

Jofre would spend more time at home and focus more of his energy on another passion from his youth, artwork. He loved to paint and draw, showing that his artistry wasn’t just limited to the squared circle. He was handy enough with the brush that he even had some works published.

The great champion had maintained his popularity in retirement, constantly being recognized by admirers on the streets or when dropping his children off at school but it wasn’t until his son, Marcel inquired about what his father does for work that he’d thought seriously about returning to the ring to regain some of his former glories. Marcel said to his father “What do you do for work? Do you do anything?” and this is when Jofre committed to coming back stating that he “decided to show him (Marcel) what I was doing (for work).”

During this time Jofre had been invited to travel with his aunt, Olga Zumbano across the country going to the circus putting on shows for spectators. Jofre’s skills had shined particularly brightly on this tour and he had gotten the appetite back to have another foray into the sport which had brought him such respect and admiration.

Back to the ring
Eder came back to the ring in 1969 this time as a featherweight at the age of 33. The comeback began on August 27th, 1969 at the former champion’s favorite local venue, Ibirapuera Stadium in Sao Paulo in front of an adoring public who welcomed him back with tremendous applause. The opponent was a solid one in the form of Rudy Corona, a veteran of 75 fights. Corona was a typical journeyman of those days, facing a plethora of top level fighters, winning some, losing most. Jofre stopped Corona in the sixth round giving the hometown crowd exactly what they wanted from their returning hero.

Jofre would fight four times in 1970 stepping up the level of opposition with victories over a pair of Italian trial horses by the names of Nevio Carbi and Giovanni Girgenti. Jofre, still getting back into the grove of things shook off some rust defeating a Mexican with a losing record and defeating Manny Elias. Elias, as you’ll recall was given a draw (thanks to the South American scoring system) with Jofre back in 1965 but was no match for the Brazilian this time. Jofre, started to look like the Jofre of old, showing his wide array of punches and almost scored a stoppage. The final bell saved Elias, but he lost heavily on the scorecards.

1971 brought four more fights for Jofre as he made up for lost time with a high activity level. In truth the competition faced this year wasn’t quite as challenging as the previous one with the opposition being more of the battle tested variety rather than contender level foes.

In 1972 Jofre, now inching closer to a title shot, stepped up the activity fighting five times, his most since 1961, his maiden year as bantamweight champion of the world. Jose Bisbal, an 85 fight veteran from Spain was dispatched in two swift rounds but the most challenging opponent this year would be Shig Fukuyama. Fukuyama was a popular Japanese fighter on the Los Angeles fight circuit, known for being very aggressive and leaving everything in the ring. This fight was a war with both fighters taking turns in connecting hard shots on each other. Jofre, using his great intelligence and experience, realized Fukuyama took an incredible shot to the head so he switched to his body and took the Japanese fighter out in the ninth round of a thrilling contest. Fukuyama would go on to knock out future hall of fame member Danny “Little Red” Lopez the next year whilst for Jofre, even bigger things awaited.

Eder Jofre vs. Jose Legra, May 5th, 1973, Brasilia, Brazil
The magnificent comeback of Jofre had reached its peak on the evening of May 5th, 1973 at Ginasio Presidente Medici in the capital city of Brasilia. His opponent was a formidable one in the shape of Jose Legra. Legra, 30 a Cuban exile fighting out of Spain was in the midst of his second world title reign and sporting a record of 130-9-2 defeating the likes of Howard Winstone, Clemente Sanchez, Evan Armstrong and Tahar Ben Hassen . His nickname was “The pocket Cassius Clay” and he presented the great old fighter with a tall order from a stylistic standpoint. He was unusually tall for a featherweight at 5ft 9, with excellent speed and movement and a tremendous jab.

The bout was a struggle as Jofre initially had a hard time getting inside on Legra who used his long arms and bouncy legs to get around the ring. Jofre suffered a flash knockdown at the end of the third round. “That was only the second time I went down but never did the referee even count to one in any of my fights”, said Jofre on the second knockdown of his career. The knockdown woke him up and forced him into a sense of urgency as he won the fourth round big, taking the fight to Legra and banging away at his body and head landing repeated left hooks buckling the champions knees. This round whipped the crowd into frenzy and over the next four rounds the Cuban held a slight edge but was noticeably fading under the pressure of the Brazilian’s harder, more accurate punches.

Jofre took control of the fight around the ninth round and moved ahead in the bout entering the 14th round which provided some late drama. Legra landed a hurtful body blow which noticeably stung Jofre who went into retreat briefly after holding his side wincing in pain. One thing that separates the great ones from the mere mortals is the desire and heart of a champion and Jofre showed he had that in spades by digging deep and taking control of the round as Legra once again showed clear signs of fatigue under Jofre’s onslaught. That was often a common trait of Jofre in fights he got hurt or buzzed he’d generally come right back and seize control of the fight and punish the opponent or finish them. In the 15th round he had more left in the tank and won it by two points after Legra lost a point for excessive holding. The scenes were jubilant as soon as the bell ended the bout and the two fighters embraced and when the judge’s verdict of 148-143, 146-141, 143-143 confirmed the Brazilian hero had won the featherweight championship the crowd celebrated wildly.

Jofre, at 37 was champion again and on top of the world. This was a great personal triumph for Jofre who said “The first title was for the Brazilian people. The second was for me”. He would later confirm that Legra was the best featherweight he had encountered during his career.

Before the fight, the president of Brazil, Emilio Medici had requested that Eder donate both of his gloves to him in the event that he won the title. Medici was an avid sports fan who would use athletes in an attempt to gain more popularity. “It was a time of the military regime here in Brazil, and there was some pressure for my father to give the pair of gloves to the president. As my father had promised, if he became champion he would bury the gloves in my grandmother’s grave, it was a rather embarrassing situation and they proposed that he give up only one glove. So it was done, the other was covered in bronze and placed in the grave of my grandmother”, said Marcel.

Champion again
The newly crowned featherweight champion was back on top of the world aged 37, he was to that date the oldest man to ever win a world title in the featherweight division. Keeping busy before his next title assignment Jofre faced a couple of very talented contenders in non-title bouts. First was Godfrey Stevens from Chile, who had an impressive record that read 71-7-3 and includes wins over such notable fighters as Jose Smecca, Kid Pascualito, Don Johnson and some of the top Argentine fighters of that time. He had failed in a world title attempt against Shozo Saijo, losing a decision in Japan and was coming off a decision loss to the legendary Ruben Olivares. The Chilean was no match for Jofre, who made great use of his left jab and body punching to set his foe up for a crunching right hand which ended the fight by knockout in the fourth round.

The next fight would come against another Los Angeles favorite in the form of Frankie Crawford. Crawford, like Stevens had failed to wrestle the title from Saijo, but came much closer, losing two razor thin decisions. Crawford was a fast living, fun loving fighter who took on all comers and could boast of victories over the likes of Mando Ramos and Jose Moreno and had extended Vicente Saldivar the full distance in a recent loss. Jofre, using his expert technical boxing skill completely out boxed the American fighter en-route to winning a decision. Crawford, who wasn’t known for talking well of past opponents was once asked who he’d fought who could be better than Mando Ramos to which Crawford laughed and said, “a guy by the name of Eder Jofre, he’s a fucking master!’

Eder Jofre vs. Vicente Saldivar, October 21st, 1973, Salvador, Brazil
Perhaps the greatest name of Jofre’s record is that of Mexican legend Vicente Saldivar. Saldivar had been the outstanding featherweight of the 1960’s. He’d won the title be dethroning the brilliant Sugar Ramos and his victims list included such outstanding fighters as Howard Winstone (three times), Johnny Famechon, Jose Legra and Ismael Laguna. Saldivar had reigned from 1964-1967 before a brief retirement. He regained his title in 1970 but lost in a stunning upset to Japanese contender Kuniaki Shibata. He rebounded with a win over perennial contender Frankie Crawford before the showdown with Jofre.

The battle of legends took place on October 21st, 1973 at Ginásio de Esportes Antônio Balbino in Salvador and it didn’t turn out to be much of a contest with Jofre dominating Saldivar before winning on a 4th round KO via a left hook finish. Jofre, then 37 was seven years older than the Mexican but had a lot more in the tank. What is significant about this bout is that it was the last fight Eder would have his father in his corner. “Kid” Jofre had been suffering with lung cancer and was having a hard time getting up and down from the corner, which Eder later said was the reason he expedited the finish. “He was very sick and so pale but wanted to be the one in the corner bringing the stool up every round. I didn’t want to see my father suffering so I tried my best to win that fight by knockout so that he wouldn’t have to endure getting up and down from the ring every round”. After a tactical first two rounds Jofre put his foot on the gas mixing in jabs and hooks before the knockout finish. After the fight Kid Jofre told his son “You’ve achieved everything boxing has to offer. If you want to you can quit right now because this is it. You’ve done everything.”

The fights with Legra and Saldivar are bookmarked in his career as two of his most important and despite both fights being in Brazil, neither landed in Jofre’s hometown in Sao Paulo. “These two fights occurred outside of São Paulo, there was a possibility of extra money with the TV broadcast, besides the commercial part that made extra money. I have heard from my father that he liked to fight outside of São Paulo as well, because he believed that the environment was a bit heavy at home”, said Marcel.

Heartbreak

It was just a few months after the Saldivar victory when Aristedes “Kid” Jofre passed away at the age of 67 after his battle with lung cancer. This would become a very difficult time for the champion who had idolized his father and still does to this day. He vacated the featherweight title on June 17th, 1974 after failing to meet mandatory challenger Alfredo Marcano of Venezuela. Jofre didn’t fight for over a year and was going through a dispute with his management team around this time.

He came back to fight in December that year with a lackluster win over a journeyman. The great champion made more of an attempt at a genuine comeback in 1976 fighting on six occasions. He scored decisive victories over a couple of top European featherweights named Enzo Farinelli and Jose Antonio Jiminez before rounding out the year beating a pair of excellent Mexican fighters named Juan Antonio Lopez and Octavio Gomez. Gomez had defeated such outstanding fighters as Art Hafey, Danny Lopez, Rafael Herrera and Kid Pascualito but dropped a decision to the Brazilian legend.

The Gomez fight would be Jofre’s last as he announced his retirement in March of 1977 having lost the motivation to keep going. It was very important for Jofre to not just become a steppingstone for up and coming fighters looking to get his legendary name on their resume but in reality his form and technique was such that he perhaps could have gone on longer but there’s very few professions more dangerous sticking around in than Boxing once the fire has gone away.

A large part of this fire burning out was that another tragedy had affected Eder in that his brother Dogalberto, who had been training him, had passed away. “It was a time to think hard, think about it. Now I do not know what was going on in my head at that moment, but it was difficult … I have a thousand words to praise my father. He gave me his competence, his teachings, and fortunately, as a son, I was able to assimilate everything and become a two-time world champion. Unfortunately he got cancer from so much smoking. After my father passed away, my brother helped me, it was he who took care of the academy. Modesty aside, I knew more than he did, but having my brother’s encouragement made the difference. My family fortunately was always united”, Jofre said with regards to this difficult time in his life.

Retirement

In retirement Jofre remained very active both professionally and physically. He had always managed his money very well which is unlike most prizefighters who end up fighting on too long in search for a payday or making multiple failed comeback attempts to recoup squandered funds. Through lessons learned from his father, Jofre was responsible with his spending and didn’t live the type of fast life that required a giant entourage. He was a devoted family man having married his childhood sweetheart Cidinha in 1961. They were married for 52 years until she passed away in 2013. They had two children together, Marcel and Andrea. Eder has four grandchildren in total. Eder has remained in Sao Paulo and moved in with his daughter and her husband in 2012.
As a result of his sensible use of ring earnings Eder was able to devote a lot of time to his family since his retirement from the ring. Over the years he had made some investments such as owning clothing companies throughout Sao Paulo and he remained active in boxing training fighters and teaching boxing classes. According to his son Marcel, Eder didn’t train fighters that long confiding “He did not like to teach but to fight.”

Throughout his life, Eder has brushed shoulders with some of the most famous names in boxing history. “He met Muhammad Ali, when Ali was here in Brazil doing a performance at Ibirapuera in the 1970’s. At the opportunity they exchanged compliments and the meeting was cool”, said Marcel about his father’s meeting with “The Greatest”. “He has a chain with a gold medal of St. Benedict that belonged to Joe Louis. This medal was presented by a great Brazilian artist named Hebe Camargo who said that she had an affair with Louis. He also met Sugar Ray Robinson at the time he fought for the bantamweight title in Los Angeles against Eloy Sanchez”, he added.

Despite the relatively low profile boxing has compared to Football in Brazil, the champ retained his popularity. “After he stopped fighting, the schedule of appointments remained great, with plenty of TV and newspapers, as well as commercials. He even participated in a TV show on Globo TV, the largest in Brazil, with questions and answers where the theme was Muhammad Ali”, Marcel added.

A highlight in the life of Eder and his family was when he got inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York in 1992 and the family made the trip with him. Marcel had the following to say about his father’s induction; “When we had the opportunity to go to Canastota, New York, for him it was like for a kid to go to Disneyland. The reunion with some boxing friends like Carlos Ortiz, Alexis Arguello and Angelo Dundee was special in his life. He also had the chance to play in a mini exhibition with Alexis (Arguello). Particularly for me it was an incredible experience to see my father recognized in another country, who has always treated him with respect and recognition. My father always liked the American way of life.”

That trip to the Hall of Fame was the last time Jofre travelled to America. He has told his children that he would like to go back to visit for the memories but it is difficult to travel that far these days. Eder’s favorite venue out of all the places he fought outside of Brazil was in Los Angeles, “I remember my father speaking fondly of having fought in the USA, in the Olympic Auditorium, which is now a church. Here in Brazil, São Paulo, more precisely Ginãsio do Ibirapuera was the place where he fought the most. He had good experiences in Porto Alegre, Salvador, and Brasilia”, said Marcel. I don’t believe he had any frustration at not fighting elsewhere. I particularly wish he had fought at Madison Square Garden in New York”, he added.

He enjoyed a successful career in politics serving as an alderman for the city of Sao Paulo after receiving the necessary votes in 1982. This is a position he would hold until 2000 and during that time he made some major improvements of which he is very proud of. “I did a lot of projects, more than 30. That law on the old people’s seats on the buses and the one for the free pass for them is mine. Only when I was not elected again I decided to stop”, he said when talking about the impact he made.

Eder was always the type to care for other people and lend a helping hand saying, “My goodness, you need patience! And you know why? You go out on the street and everyone comes to ask for a house, a help, a little piece. That’s awesome.”

Since he ended his political career Jofre has seen some exciting projects come to life. In 2004 there was the release of a special documentary “O grande campeao” (The great champion) which was released on DVD. This was the second major feature documentary released on the ex-champion after “Quebrando a cara” (breaking the face) was released in 1986. That documentary featured multiple interviews and clips with people who knew him from his youth and explained the impact of the Jofre-Zumbano clan on Brazilian boxing.
This year a movie based on his life titled “10 Segundos Para Vencer” (10 seconds to victory) was released in cinemas all across Brazil. Actor Daniel de Oliveira played the role of Eder, with Osmar Prado playing his father, “Kid” Jofre. The movie was created by Thomas Stavros who’d worked passionately for many years making the movie.

The great champion had the following upon the premier of the movie,”Many thought it was impossible, but in all my life, the word ‘impossible’ was never part of my vocabulary. Yesterday was the pre-premiere day of the movie 10 seconds to win, which counts beautifully all my professional and family history until I was 37 years old, when I won once again a world title. I knew it would be exciting, but I never imagined a movie as beautiful as this. Thank you to my family and everyone involved. Daniel De Oliveira made me very handsome in cinema. I could see my father at Osmar Prado, it was amazing. My special thanks to Thomas Stavros, who 15 years ago came to me, promised me that he would write a movie for me and that he would launch in the movies. He fulfilled his promise with much struggle and perseverance, and the result could not be better. It’s not a simple boxing film; it’s a movie also about family, about love, and above all, about overcoming. And if there’s something Brazilian people understand, it’s about overcoming.”
Marcel was very happy with the finished product seeing his father’s story told on the big screen. “The film was a long project of about 10 years until it materialized. Here in Brazil, the only sport that matters is football (soccer) and making a movie about boxing was difficult. But it worked, and it was a great emotion to see the story of my family on the screen. This film later became a mini-series that appeared on TV Globo in 4 chapters”, he said.

In addition to the movie and documentaries there have been three books released. His autobiography, “O Galo de Ouro” (the golden bantam), “Gente: Eder Jofre” (people: Eder Jofre) and “Em 12 rounds” (In 12 rounds), which focuses on the story of the Jofre & Zumbano family.

He has maintained a healthy lifestyle continuing to work out regularly. He has kept to his strict vegetarian diet to this day, “I even feel disgust today when I see people eating meat”, he said. “I eat pasta, rice and beans, boiled potatoes or fried and very sporadically egg. I drink milk, yogurt, curds, and honey”. Eder became a vegetarian at the age of 20 after reading a book that claimed that meat was extremely harmful to the body, saying that both the human dentition and our gastro system were not appropriate for meat consumption. There have been some complications with memory loss as he’s gotten older. He was hit pretty hard by the death of his wife in 2013 and took a bad turn health wise but with the help of the doctors and some medication he saw an improvement. His daughter, Andrea said: “He forgets certain things but when you start talking to him and say, ‘Remember when you fought this fighter or won this fight’ and he will remember and start to talk more. He sometimes forgets how old he is. He will ask, ‘I am that far up in years?’ when you start to talk about the dates and years of his career.”

Recently, there was the opening of the Fight Club Academy in Sao Paulo which is a school for boxing and martial arts. It was inaugurated in May of this year and Eder was on hand to unveil a large photograph honoring his father, “Kid” Jofre and did an autograph session. It is one of a number of gyms around the city which honors the memory of “Kid” Jofre.

At 83 he is still often seen at local events throughout the city. He remains the only Brazilian boxer in the Hall of Fame and one of only four Brazilian boxers to win a world title. When offering his opinion on the lack of Brazilian world champions and lack of interest compared to other sports such as football, he had the following to say, “Unfortunately Kid Jofre is dead. He knew how to teach boxing. You must have technique. To know how to play football, the guy needs to know how to dribble.”

In the years since his retirement Jofre really enjoyed the career and style of Mike Tyson due to his many knockouts and the excitement he brought to the sport. “We should applaud Mike Tyson. He was not a boy like me, who had been fighting since he was a kid. Only after many problems did he dedicate himself and was the champion. A phenomenon for boxing that made many people come back to fight, led the public to the gyms. It’s these things that make boxing happen. Show me here in Brazil who can do this … We have good fighters, but they do not show up because they do not have the chance to dedicate to training because of the lack of support”, he said.

Jofre never pushed his children to get into boxing though he and his son both keep a keen eye on the sport to this day. “Honestly, I’ve was never very stimulated by him to pursue a boxing career. I think that because of so many difficulties he did not want the same for m, said Marcel. Marcel maintains a strong following of the sport in general and was able to attend his fights when he came back as a featherweight in the 1970’s. “Honestly and sincerely I was a fan of my father. The other fighters had a certain appreciation but none that glittered in my eyes. I’m proud of all the fights. I think the fight that made him world champion in the featherweight division against Legra. Being that I was 10 years old and had more understanding, made it special. It was thrilling to see my champion father and my grandfather’s happiness”, Marcel said when remembering his father’s fights. Since being eight or nine years old I was following my father’s fights very closely. Each fight was a sensational event for a child who had father that was a hero to many people. The best memories were being around relatives, especially my grandfather. Participating close to the big boxing show was a spectacular experience”, he added. “Whenever he gets the opportunity he likes to watch his old fights and other fighters as well. That’s for sure in his DNA. The passion for boxing is very much alive in him. I also have the same boxing virus in my veins. I like to watch his fights when I get a chance”, he added.

Place in history
To understand just how unique Eder Jofre was you have to understand that his era was objectively more different to rule. When he turned pro there were only 10 weight divisions and this was at a time where only one man per division could claim to be a “world champion”. Compare that to the modern era of between four and six titles in each of the 17 divisions and so many promoters and advisors getting their fighters easy title wins across multiple weights.

In reality, few can claim to be really undisputed champions the way they were back in previous generations. Fighters tend to last longer on average these days’ thanks in large part to science and let’s face it assistance that may or may not be legal. That’s sports across the board really. It’s also worth noting that with more careful matchmaking on the way up, less fights and the over marinating of certain big fights the fighters obtain far less wear and tear on their bodies.

The fighters had to contend with same day weigh-ins so far less of the “weight bullying” which is commonplace in today’s game and with already less divisions and titles it was much harder to win and rule in other divisions. This is not a knock on modern day fighters who like generations past pour their heart and soul into the game, rather it’s an indicator of just how special some of these men were and how difficult they had it. To be a champion meant exactly that whereas nowadays there are champions and there are belt holders.

Jofre reigned as the Bantamweight champion from 1960-1965, retired from 1966-1969 and then compiled arguably the greatest comeback in boxing history. In his second career he campaigned as a Featherweight going 25-0 before retiring at the age of 40. He was able to claim his second world championship at the age of 37. His career spanned 19 years in which he fought 78 times, losing to only one man. He contested major bouts in seven different countries scoring victories over formidable local fighters. The four draws on his record are of the South American variety meaning that under any other jurisdiction he would have been the victor but because a fighter had to lead by four (or more) points on at least two cards it was common for a lot of South American fights to be recorded as draws. The two losses as stated earlier were in Harada’s hometown at a stage in his career where he was having an almighty struggle boiling down to the weight limit. The 13 years between his maiden title win and final title win is among one of the widest gaps across all divisions and he is one of the few fighters to start his career with over 50 fights before encountering a loss. When you consider the level of skill he possessed in addition to the dominance he displayed in the ring and the remarkable consistency and longevity of his career he stands out in history as one of the greatest fighters ever pound for pound.

Just how great? Of course, all-time lists are subjective so it’s very hard to put this into perspective. There have been so many special fighters throughout history, many deserving a feature of this length. That means you’ll see cases for differing opinions. Here I will attempt to justify what his place in history is based on the types of lists he would be included.

Bantamweight
Jofre’s bantamweight career ran from 1957-1966 and it is here where he’s regarded to have been at his best. That is logical because it is where he won his first title, had his longest reign and spent his 20’s competing in. He is generally ranked as the greatest fighter the division has ever seen. He was voted as the #1 bantamweight of all-time by the WBC, who put his face next to Carlos Zarate’s on their bantamweight belt. The WBA gave a similar honor, naming their “super” belt after him.

The International Boxing Research Organization voted him as the finest fighter in history of the division. The last time The Ring made an all-time ranking for the bantamweight division was in 1994 and they placed Jofre at the number two spot, behind Zarate. Most all-time lists would generally have Zarate as ranking behind his fellow Mexican legend, the murderous punching Ruben Olivares. I would generally consider Olivares to be the closest to Jofre in the all-time bantamweight list. Olivares was a fine fighter and arguably the greatest ever from Mexico and his explosive best was in the bantamweight division. Olivares is among the most exciting fighters who ever fought, thrilling crowds all over Mexico and the Los Angeles area in his heyday. Some of his vintage performances show a fighter near Jofre’s level as far as fistic perfection goes but he never quite had the dominant reign that Jofre had and it is of my opinion that Jofre was the more consistent and complete fighter and I think he’d have won had the two fought at their peaks. Interestingly the two nearly fought when they were both residing in the featherweight division but it wasn’t to be as issues between managers got in the way.

I think it would be fair to say that Jofre actually didn’t own an official win at bantamweight over what would be described in historical terms as a “great fighter” but that has to be put into context. Many of the other bantamweights typically in the discussion for best ever also do not have this accolade either. Olivares, Zarate, Manuel Ortiz are generally seen as the men closest to Jofre on this list and while they all fought and beat terrific fighters none of their bantamweight victims are enshrined in the hall of fame. This is largely because these men competed in an era with far less weight categories and of course just one champion. Only one man could be champion and when you’ve got a champion who is such a complete fighter, so dominant and consistent it’s really hard for others to make their mark. Julio Cesar Chavez, the great Mexican boxer is unquestionably high up any list of the greatest in history but look through the win column and you won’t see any truly great fighter under it.

I tend to give the benefit of doubt to a fighter so skilled and so dominant for so long that he may have had something to do with that. It also doesn’t help the case of these fighters that much of the coverage wasn’t readily available to TV audiences in the United States or the U.K, the two largest markets. Jofre went by the nickname “The golden bantam” and it is a nickname that suited him well. He was the greatest bantamweight in history.

Featherweight
At featherweight you will generally not see Jofre’s names listed at the top of the pile for the simple fact that the bulk of his career was spent dominating the bantamweight class. The last time The Ring put out an all-time rankings in the division, Jofre’s name was included in the honorable mentions but not inside the top 20. IBRO placed him at number 15 which I think is a more accurate ranking.

Featherweight was not his best weight. He had accumulated over three years of inactivity and entered the division at the age of 33. His reign lasted just one year before vacating the title after just one title defense. That isn’t to say he didn’t put in some quality work at featherweight because he did. He went 25-0, beat a fine champion in Jose Legra and defended against a legend in Vicente Saldivar. Saldivar is generally ranked highly on these lists after being a dominant champion in his prime but it’s also got to be acknowledged that the class between Jofre and Saldivar was past both fighters’ prime years.

Jofre gets extra kudos because not only did this reign go unbeaten but he also fought in the division until he was 40. The comeback he made is arguably the best in the history of the sport and it’s the featherweight run which helps push him up on any mythical all-time pound for pound ranking.

Greatest from South America?
There are six fighters from South America in the IBHOF currently. Jofre is accompanied by the great Antonio Cervantes from Colombia and the Argentinean quartet of Carlos Monzon, Niccolino Locche, Pascual Perez and Victor Galindez. All excellent fighters but the title of best South American fighter can only be between Jofre and Monzon.

The Ring published their top 10 in 2009 with Monzon in first and Jofre in second. Monzon was a special fighter indeed. He was very tall for the middleweight weight class and possessed a very long reach. He was a powerful puncher with an iron chin and had great intelligence in the ring which enabled him to dominate the middleweight division as champion from 1970-1977 making 14 successful defenses before retiring with an impressive 87-3-9-1 record which included 59 knockout victories. Like Jofre, the majority of his draws came down to the South American scoring. He did defeat all but one man in his 100 fight career with one draw not being avenged.

Monzon took the title from a great fighter in Nino Benvenuti in addition to having some high profile defenses against an aging pair of welterweight greats in Jose Napoles and Emile Griffith and a pair of decision victories with an excellent Colombian champion by the name of Rodrigo Valdez. Since Monzon retired having never lost his title in the ring in addition to reigning longer and defending the title more I think it’s fair to say his exploits as middleweight champion surpass even Jofre’s in the bantamweight class which I think would justify the Ring’s rating. Monzon as noted had more high profile scalps but I wouldn’t necessarily say his competition was a million miles away since a number of his title defenses the opposition was considerably weaker than that of which Jofre faced.

What I personally believe separates Jofre from Monzon was the best South American fighter is the fact that I believe him to be the more talented and skilled boxer of the two and secondly , his work as a featherweight tips his resume over the edge in my view.

Pound for pound

As far as Jofre’s overall standing in history on the mythical pound for pound list he’s been well respected on most of the published lists. In 1996 the Ring rated him number nine of best boxers of the last 50 years (1946-1996) and they placed him number 19 of boxers in the last 80 years in 2002 (1922-2002) in addition to him being rated the best boxer of the 1960’s in their 90th anniversary issue in 2012. When you consider that the 1960’s was an era which featured the likes of Muhammad Ali, Carlos Ortiz, Emile Griffith, Luis Rodriguez and Dick Tiger in their primes you sort of get the idea how special one must be to top that generation. This is an accolade which gave Jofre a great amount of pride, “He is aware that Ring Magazine chose him as the best fighter of the 60’s and this made him very happy and honored. All recognition of his career made him a completely happy and accomplished man”, said Marcel.
Hall of fame member and celebrity boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar placed Jofre at number 26 in his book “Boxing’s greatest fighters” in 1988 and placed him two spots lower in 28th in his updated version in 2006. Dan Cuoco, boxing historian and director of the IBRO from 2000-2014 placed Jofre at number 15 on his all-time pound for pound list which I see as being a more accurate placement than that of Sugar.

I think there’s a reasonably strong case that Jofre is one of the 20 greatest boxers in history when everything is factored in. He is generally regarded as the greatest boxer in one of the original eight classes in addition to being one of the most impressive fighters captured on film. As was mentioned earlier he’s very close to being the perfect boxer and the fact that he could fight as often as 78 times spanning 20 years and only lose to one man shows many unique qualities that even fighters who’d rank above him can’t claim.

Jofre was remarkably consistent throughout his career having never really had any low points in his career or ever becoming just an opponent. For fighters of his generation that is a rarity indeed given that the fighters weren’t quite making the millions fighters of modern times do. He was never used as a steppingstone for some young upstart or went through the common end of career routine of winning some and losing some which is testament to his quality and professionalism since he fought past his 40th birthday.

Marcel attributes his father’s consistency to his sheer professionalism, respect for his oppositions and huge confidence in his own ability; “My father was always very responsible with his training and condition because he was aware that was the instrument for his fights. He always did his running in the morning and in the afternoon the technical part with my grandfather in the academy of São Paulo Futebol Clube. There were no magic tricks. My father was always an athlete very aware of his ability and no adversary put any fear in him. My father respected everyone equally, but always with the certainty of his mental condition focused to win”, he said.

In addition to being a dominant longstanding champion in an era where you seldom had to differentiate belt holders from champions and the legendary featherweight run which stands out as arguably the greatest comeback in the history of the sport everything points to Jofre being one of the top 20 boxers In history pound for pound.

#### By CHRIS SMITH

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##### 2 thoughts on “Eder Jofre: The Golden Bantam”

1. Não tenho palavras para agradecer todo carinho e reconhecimento de meu amigo Chris Smith por esse fabuloso artigo. Fez um trabalho de pesquisa exemplar a respeito da carreira de meu pai. Parabéns

   Reply

2. Very impressive that an animal loving vegetarian was one of the greatest boxers and punchers ever.

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