Boxing History: March 26, 1936 was Eder Jofre born. 21 years later on the exact same date in 1957, he knocks out Raul Lopez in the 3rd round in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at his pro debut!
Eder Jofre (born March 26, 1936), is a Brazilian former boxer whom many consider to be the best Brazilian boxer of all time. Jofre is also considered by many historians as the greatest Bantamweight of all time.
A native of Sao Paulo, Jofre, whose nicknames were “The Golden Bantam” and “Jofrinho,” made his professional debut on March 23, 1957, beating Raul Lopez by knockout in five rounds. He had a total of twelve fights in 1957, including two each against Lopez, Osvaldo Perez and Ernesto Miranda, against whom Jofre sustained his first two record stains: two ten round draws (ties).
He began 1958 by winning four more fights, and then, on May 14 of that year, he had his first fight abroad, drawing in ten rounds against Ruben Caceres in Montevideo, Uruguay. On November 14, Jose Smecca became the first and only man to drop Jofre in his career; Jofre got up from a first round knockdown to knock Smecca out in seven rounds.
Jofre won eight fights in 1959, including one against two time world title challenger Leo Espinoza, and a seventh round knockout in a rematch with Caceres.
On February 19, 1960, he fought Ernesto Miranda for the third time, this time with the South American Bantamweight title on the line. Jofre outpointed Miranda over fifteen rounds to win his first title as a professional. Jofre retained the title with a knockout in three rounds in a fourth fight with Miranda, and, after one more win, he made his American debut, defeating top ranked challenger Jose Medel by knockout in ten on August 16 at Los Angeles. On November 18 of that year, Jofre became NBA world champion, when he knocked out former world Bantamweight champion Jose Becerra’s conqueror Eloy Sanchez in six rounds, at Los Angeles.
Jofre proved to be a busy world champion, fighting top notch fighters, both in title engagements and in non title fights. From 1960 to 1965, he retained his title against Piero Rollo, Ramon Arias (in Caracas, Venezuela), Johnny Caldwell, Herman Marques, Jose Medel, Katsuyoshi Aoki (in Tokyo), Johnny Jamito (in Manila), and Bernardo Caraballo (in Bogota, Colombia).
In addition, he defeated such fighters as Billy Peacock, Sadao Yaoita and Fernando Soto in non title bouts. After the fight with Aoki, Jofre was also recognized as world Bantamweight champion by the WBC, therefore, becoming the undisputed world champion. (Jofre is one of few vegetarians to win a world title.)
Up until his defense against Caraballo, Jofre had the record for the longest undefeated run in boxing history since the start of a career. This record would shortly after be broken by Nino Benvenuti and, much later on, by Julio Cesar Chavez.
On May 17, 1965, his streak as an undefeated fighter was broken when he lost to “Fighting Harada” by a fifteen round split decision in Nagoya, Japan, to lose the world Bantamweight title. Harada was the only fighter ever to defeat Jofre as a professional.
After losing to Harada by unanimous decision at a rematch held in Tokyo on June 1, 1966, Jofre retired.
In 1969, he made a comeback, beating Rudy Corona by a knockout in six on August 26. After winning thirteen fights in a row, he challenged for a world title once again: on May 21, 1973, he fought Jose Legra for the WBC world Featherweight title, in Brasilia. Jofre became a two division world champion by defeating Legra with a fifteen round unanimous decision.
Despite having won his second world title, Jofre realized he was nearing the end of the road as far as his boxing career was concerned. He did defeat Frankie Crawford in a non title affair and defended his world Featherweight title against fellow former world Bantamweight champion, Vicente Saldivar of Mexico, in a “super fight” held at Salvador. He knocked Saldivar out in four rounds.
After a string of fights against lesser opponents, he retired, having beaten “Octavio Famoso Gomez” by 12 round decision on October 8, 1976.
Jofre has since dedicated himself to being a boxing trainer in Brazil. He also owns businesses such as supermarkets.
He had a record of 72 wins, 2 losses and 4 draws as a professional boxer, with his 50 knockout wins making him a member of the exclusive group of boxers that has won 50 or more fights by knockout.
He is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
