José ("Chegüi") Torres (May 3, 1936 – January 19, 2009) was a Puerto Rican-born American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. As an

amateur boxer Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

, he won a silver medal in the junior middleweight division at the 1956 Olympic Games in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. In 1965, he defeated

Willie Pastrano Wilfred Raleigh Pastrano (November 27, 1935 – December 6, 1997) was an American former professional boxer who competed from 1951 to 1965. He held the undisputed WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' light heavyweight titles between 1963 and 1965. Earl ...

to win the WBC, WBA and lineal light heavyweight championships. Torres trained with the legendary boxing trainer

Cus D'Amato Constantine "Cus" D'Amato (January 17, 1908 – November 4, 1985) was an Italian-American boxing manager and trainer who handled the careers of Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, and José Torres, all of whom went on to be inducted into the Internatio ...

. In 1997, he was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

Amateur career

Born in the city of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, Torres began boxing when he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as a teenager (he was 17 years old). His only amateur titles had come in Army and Inter-Service championships, several of which he had won. Torres was still in the Army when he won the Silver Medal in the light middleweight division at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, where he lost to

László Papp László Papp (25 March 1926 – 16 October 2003) was a Hungarian professional boxer from Budapest. He was left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, and the 1956 Summer Olym ...

of Hungary in the final. Torres trained at the Empire Sporting Club in New York City with trainer

. He was the 1958 National AAU Middleweight Champion and also won the 1958

New York Golden Gloves The New York Golden Gloves boxing tournament was considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Chicago Golden Gloves. Named for the small golden gloves given out to the winners of each weigh ...

160 lb Open Championship.

Professional career

He debuted as a professional in 1958 with a first-round knockout of George Hamilton in New York. Twelve wins in a row followed, ten of them by knockout (including wins over contenders Ike Jenkins and

Al Andrews Alvin Wayne Andrews (born July 10, 1945) is a former professional American football linebacker in the National Football League. He played for the Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buff ...

), after which he was able to make his San Juan debut against

Benny Paret Bernardo Paret (March 14, 1937 – April 3, 1962), known as Benny Paret or Benny "Kid" Paret, was a Cuban welterweight boxer who won the World Welterweight Championship twice in the early 1960s. Paret's death occurred 10 days after injuries ...

, a future world welterweight champion from Cuba. Torres and Paret fought to a ten-round draw, and in 1960, Torres went back to campaigning in New York, where he scored three wins that year, all by decision, including two over Randy Sandy. In 1961, Torres made his hometown debut with a four-round knockout win in a rematch with Hamilton at Ponce. He had six more fights that year, winning all of them by knockout. Torres kept his knockout streak alive through 1962 with three more knockout wins but, in 1963, he suffered his first loss, being stopped in five by

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

's Florentino Fernández, the only boxer ever to beat Torres by a knockout as a professional. After that setback, Torres went back to training and had one more fight that year, and that time around, he was able to beat another top contender in Don Fullmer,

Gene Fullmer Lawrence Gene Fullmer (July 21, 1931 – April 27, 2015) was an American professional boxer and World Middleweight champion. Professional career Fullmer began his professional career in 1951 and won his first 29 fights, 19 by knockout. His mana ...

's brother, with a ten-round decision win in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. In 1964, Torres beat a group of name boxers, including Jose Gonzalez, Walker Simmons (twice), Frankie Olivera,

Gomeo Brennan Gomeo Brennan (born 17 January 1939 in Bimini) is a Bahamian professional welter/ light middle/ middle/ super middle/light heavyweight boxer of the 1950s, '60s and '70s who won the Commonwealth middleweight title (twice), and was a challenger ...

and former world Middleweight champion Carl Olson (''Bobo''), taken out in one round. After this, Torres was ranked number 1 among Light Heavyweight challengers, and his title shot would soon arrive. It happened in 1965 at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. Torres defeated the

International Boxing Hall Of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

member, and World Light Heavyweight champion

. In so doing, Torres became the third Puerto Rican world boxing champion in history and the first

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

to win the world Light Heavyweight title, knocking Pastrano out in round nine. Later that year, he fought a non-title bout versus

Tom McNeeley Thomas William McNeeley Jr. (February 27, 1937 – October 25, 2011) was a heavyweight boxer in the 1950s and 1960s. He hailed from Arlington, Massachusetts, and played football for Michigan State University. His son, Peter McNeeley, and father, ...

(father of former

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

rival

Peter McNeeley Peter McNeeley (born October 6, 1968) is an American former heavyweight boxer, best known for his 1995 fight with Mike Tyson, before which McNeeley had said he would wrap Tyson in a "cocoon of horror." McNeeley fought aggressively but was kn ...

) in San Juan, winning a ten-round decision. In 1966, he successfully defended his crown three times, with 15-round decisions over Wayne Thornton and

Eddie Cotton Eddie Cotton, Jr. (June 15, 1926 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States — April 17, 2020 in Seattle) was a former boxer. Cotton was a resident of Seattle, Washington until his death on following a second liver transplant. Career Eddie Cotton w ...

and a two-round knockout of

Chic Calderwood Chic Calderwood (1 September 1937 – 12 November 1966) was a Scottish light-heavyweight boxer from Craigneuk in North Lanarkshire, Scotland who was active from 1957 to 1966. He was 6 ft. 3 in. tall and had a venomous punch, winning man ...

. In his next defense, however, he would lose it to another Hall Of Fame member,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Dick Tiger Dick Tiger (born Richard Ihetu; August 14, 1929 – December 14, 1971) was a Nigerian-born professional boxer who held the undisputed middleweight and light-heavyweight championships. Tiger emigrated to Liverpool, England to pursue his b ...

, by a decision in 15 rounds. In 1967, he and Tiger had a rematch, and Torres lost a 15-round decision again. Many fans thought he should have won it that time, and as a consequence, a large riot followed the fight. After his second defeat to Tiger, Torres only fought twice more, retiring after 1969.

An active retirement

In his years after retiring from boxing, he became a representative of the Puerto Rican community in New York, meeting political leaders, giving lectures and becoming the

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...

's Commissioner from 1984 to 1988. In 1986, he was chosen to sing the United States National Anthem before the world Lightweight championship bout between

Jimmy Paul Jimmy Paul (born August 27, 1959 in Detroit, MI) is an American former professional boxer in the lightweight division. He was the International Boxing Federation's world Lightweight champion from 1985-when he beat Harry Arroyo by a 15 round unanimo ...

and Irleis Perez in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

, New Jersey. In 1990 he became President of the WBO, and he was President until 1995. He was also a member of the

Author

Torres regularly contributed a column to the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' (which he obtained with the help of his friend,

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...

), as well as to ''

El Diario La Prensa ''El Diario Nueva York'' is the largest and the oldest Spanish-language daily newspaper in the United States. Published by ImpreMedia, the paper covers local, national and international news with an emphasis on Latin America, as well as human-in ...

'', a

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

newspaper in New York City. He also wrote for

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

. In 1971 he co-authored ''Sting Like a Bee'', a biography of

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

. In 1989, he wrote the

biography ''Fire and Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson'' (which would be adapted into the 1995

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

television movie ''

Tyson Tyson is a male given name of old French origin meaning 'high-spirited', 'fire'. It is from this that a surname arose 'son of Tyson'. Surname *Alan Tyson (1926–2000), British musicologist *Barbara Tyson (born 1964), Canadian actress *Bill Tyso ...

'').

Later years

In 2007, Torres announced his decision to move back to his hometown of

and concentrate on writing books and articles related to sports and history. On August 6, 2008, Torres received a recognition for his military career.

Death and legacy

Torres died in the morning of January 19, 2009, of a heart attack at his home in Ponce, Puerto Rico. There are plans to move his remains to the

Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro The Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro (English: Román Baldorioty de Castro National Pantheon) is a tract of land in Barrio Segundo of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, originally designed as the city's cemetery, but later converted ...

, a national pantheon and museum, in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He is also recognized at Ponce's Parque de los Ponceños Ilustres in the area of sports.''Sports''.
TravelPonce.com Retrieved 18 April 2013. During his life Torres was the subject of two documentaries by famed Japanese film director Hiroshi Teshigahara.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
José Torres - CBZ Profile
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Jose 1936 births 2009 deaths Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Burials at Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Light-heavyweight boxers New York State Athletic Commissioners Olympic boxers of the United States Olympic silver medalists for the United States in boxing Puerto Rican Army personnel Puerto Rican male boxers Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers World Boxing Council champions World Boxing Organization champions Sportspeople from Ponce, Puerto Rico United States Army soldiers American male boxers Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics