José "Chegüi" Torres (May 3, 1936 – January 19, 2009) was a Puerto Rican-born American professional boxer. As an amateur boxer, he won a silver medal in the junior middleweight division at the

1956 Olympic Games 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport even ...

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 WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

, WBA and lineal light heavyweight championships. Torres trained with the legendary boxing trainer Cus D'Amato. In 1997, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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 The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

, where he lost to László Papp of Hungary in the final. Torres trained at the Empire Sporting Club in New York City with trainer Cus D'Amato. He was the 1958

National AAU The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

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), after which he was able to make his

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

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 Don Fullmer (February 21, 1939 – January 28, 2012) was an American professional boxer and a brother of the former world middleweight champion Gene Fullmer. Eight years younger than his more famous brother, Don followed Gene into the gym in Wes ...

, Gene Fullmer'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 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 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) 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 wa ...

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 many o ...

. 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 ...

's Dick Tiger, 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'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 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 The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

, and he was President until 1995. He was also a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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, 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, José 1936 births 2009 deaths Puerto Rican male boxers Sportspeople from Ponce, Puerto Rico Burials at Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro Puerto Rican Army personnel United States Army soldiers New York State Athletic Commissioners American male boxers Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in boxing Olympic boxers of the United States Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers Light-heavyweight boxers World light-heavyweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions The Ring (magazine) champions