Joey Archer (born February 11, 1938 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) is an American retired boxer. He defeated

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded ...

in Robinson's final fight in 1965 (by unanimous decision) and fought Hall of Fame boxers such as

Emile Griffith Emile Alphonse Griffith (February 3, 1938 – July 23, 2013) was a professional boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands who won world titles in three weight divisions. He held the world light middleweight, undisputed welterweight, and middleweight t ...

and

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 ...

Professional boxing career

“Irish” Joey Archer began his career in 1956 at 18 years of age. He was a master boxer with excellent speed but lacked any semblance of power in his punches. Fighting mostly in various New York and Texas venues, he was a winner in his first 30 fights, with only 7 victories coming inside the distance. His most notable win was against the highly ranked Don Fullmer by a decision. This win earned Archer a date against tough Puerto Rican contender Jose “Monon” Gonzalez, who gave Archer his first defeat in a split decision. Two months later Archer avenged the loss by beating Gonzalez in a decisive decision. The victory propelled Archer on a streak of 15 consecutive wins against some of the Middleweight division's top fighters, including England's Mick Leahy, Denny Moyer, Argentina's Farid Salim, Canada's Blair Richardson, Holley Mims, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, and his most impressive career win, against future Hall-of-Famer and three time World champion Dick Tiger. The final win in the streak was against “Sugar” Ray Robinson in what would be the last fight of Robinson's illustrious, Hall-of-Fame career. Having reached the top of the Middleweight division, Archer suffered an unexpected split decision loss to the ranked Don Fullmer. Nevertheless, Archer earned a title challenge against Middleweight champion Griffith based on his recent winning streak. The title fight against Virgin Islander Griffith in 1966 was a hard-fought, close contest, and after 15 rounds of fighting, Griffith won by a majority decision. Archer's dream of winning the prized Middleweight title went unfulfilled, as the referee ruled the contest a draw, with the other two judges voting in favor of the champion. Six months later, Archer would again fight Griffith for the Middleweight title, and would once again taste defeat in a very narrow, controversial decision.

Retirement

“Irish” Joey Archer announced his retirement from boxing after the disappointment of these two bitter, close losses to Emile Griffith. He ended his career with a record of 45 victories (with 8 by KO) and only 4 defeats. Although he never captured a world title, Archer's boxing skills earned him induction into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005. He is on the eligibility list of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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Brief Lives: Joey Archer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Joey 1938 births Living people American male boxers Boxers from New York City Middleweight boxers