Puncher from the Past Jaime Gine

JAIME GINE
Born: Charata, Argentina Aprill 10 1933
Died: Cordoba, Argentina 2 November 2008
Turned pro: February 1954
Division: Lightweight
Record: 114 fights 89 wins 9 losses 16 draws *
*This is the record on Box Rec. Some Argentinian sources have his record as 130 fights 105 wins 9 losses and 16 draws. I will go with Box Rec as I have not seen any complete record for the 130 fights.
Beat: Nestor Savino (twice), Miguel Angel Pendola (twice), Manolo Garcia, Orlando Zulueta, Vicente Derado, Pedro Benelli (four times).`
Lost to: Nicolino Locche (twice), Manuel Alvarez, Sebastiao Nascimento (three times),
Drew with: Fred Galiana (three times), Orlando Zulueta, Nicolino Locche (twice) , Vicente Derado, Raul Villalba. Horacio Saldano
-1954 Had 15 fights in ten months and was 15-0
-1955 Had 17 fights and was 15-0-2
-1956 Had 10 fights and was 10-0
-1957 Had 7 fights and was 6-0-1 including wining the vacant Argentinian lightweight title with stoppage of unbeaten Nestor Savino and drawing with Spanish 100 fight veteran Fred Galiana
-1958 Had 13 fights and was 11-0-2 defeating Savino in a title defence and beat others including Miguel Angel Pendola (one loss in 34 fights)and 100 bout Manolo Garcia and drawing twice with Galiana.
-1959 Had 13 fights and was 11-0-2 drawing with and then outpointing Orlando Zulueta. By the end of 1959 he was now unbeaten in 75 fights**.
-1960 After a win on 13 February he fought again on 26 February and lost on points to future Hall of Fame fighter Nicolino Locche ** Some Argentinian sources say before the Locche loss he was unbeaten in 87 fights. He then lost on points to Manuel Alvarez, and drew with both Locche, and in an Argentinian title defence, Vicente Derado.
-1961 Had 8 fights going 5-2-1 winning the South American title but losing on points to Locche in a defence of the Argentinian title.
-1962 The effects of 91 fights in eight years began to catch up on him but he continued with high of level of activity beating good domestic fighters such as Pedro Benelli and Derado but lost three fights in a row against Brazilian Sebastiao Nascimento-twice for the South American title.
-1962 to 1966. He was inactive in 1963 then went 5-2-5 ending his career with three consecutive draws. The last of those against Horacio Saldano who was unbeaten in 19 fights when he fought Gine and remained unbeaten in his next 30 fights.
Although born in Charata at 15 Gine moved to Cordoba where he came to be idolised. Not much information is available on his pre professional days but he was boxing at a local Boy’s Club at 15 in the 41kg category. He was an excellent technician and a master of defence surpassed only by the “Untouchable” Locche. Their first fight was sold as the Unbeatable vs. the Untouchable. He was not a heavy puncher and his inside the distance wins generally came from high volume and accuracy. The lightweight division was very strong in Argentina in the 1950’s and 60’s and he was a huge favourite at the famous Luna Park. He had only seven fights outside Argentina-in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay-and despite his silky skills he never attracted American promoters so there was never talk of a world title fight. By the end of his career, he felt he was being used as a rung in the ladder to build younger fighters such as Saldano. He almost went from hero to villain after he retired. He served in the police force during the time of the military government when suppression of rights and official brutality was rife and thirty thousand Argentinians “disappeared” with Gine accused of illegal coercion and abuse of power. He has always denied this but he certainly made enemies and was seriously wounded in the head and arm in an attack on an official car he was driving and discharged from the Police service due to physical disability. He later suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and Prostate Cancer before dying in November 2008.

**Fighters with the longest unbeaten run at the start of their career. Top 3 are:
1) Jimmy Wilde 95 (94-0-1)
2) Julio Cesar Chavez 90 (89-0-1)
3) Jamie Gine 76 (69-0-7)