Eder Jofre (; 26 March 1936 – 2 October 2022)"Éder Jofre, ex-pugilista, morre aos 86 anos em SP"
g1.globo.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022. was a Brazilian professional boxer and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who was both

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

and

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

world champion. He is considered by many to be the greatest bantamweight boxer of all time. In 2019, he was voted the 16th greatest boxer of all time, which made him the third greatest living boxer (behind only Roberto Durán and

Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as Sugar Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professionally between 1977 and 1997, winning quintuple c ...

) by "''The International Boxing Research Organization''". In 2002, he was named the 19th greatest fighter of the past 80 years by ''The Ring'' magazine. In 1996, he was rated the 9th greatest boxer of the previous 50 years. He is ranked #85 on Ring Magazine's 100 Greatest Punchers Of All Time list. In 1992, Jofre was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

in Canastota, New York, and remains the only Brazilian thus honored.

Amateur career

Jofre represented his native country at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia.

Olympic results

* First round bye * Defeated Thein Myint (Burma) on points * Lost to Claudio Barrientos (Chile) on points

Professional career

Éder Jofre, a son of Aristides Jofre, whose nicknames (Eder's) were "''Galinho de Ouro''" (="''Golden Bantam''") and "''Jofrinho''", made his professional debut on 23 March 1957, beating Raul Lopez by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

in five rounds. He had twelve fights in 1957, including two each against Lopez, Osvaldo Perez, and Ernesto Miranda, the last of whom against whom Jofre sustained his first two record stains: two ten-round draws (ties). In 1958, Jofre won four more fights, and then, on 14 May of that year, he had his first fight abroad, drawing in ten rounds against Ruben Caceres in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay. On 14 November, Jose Smecca became the 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 19 February 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 the fourth fight with Miranda, and, after one more win, he made his U.S. debut, defeating top-ranked challenger Jose Medel by knockout in ten rounds on 16 August in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Next, he defeated the power-punching Ricardo Moreno (later ranked among boxing's all-time best punchers by '' Ring Magazine''), by a knockout in the sixth round. On 18 November of that year, Jofre became world champion, when he knocked out Eloy Sanchez in six rounds, in Los Angeles, to claim the vacant WBA World Bantamweight title. 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 Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

), Johnny Caldwell, Herman Marques, Jose Medel, Katsuyoshi Aoki (in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

), Johnny Jamito (in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

), and Bernardo Caraballo (in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, 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. On 17 May 1965, his streak as an undefeated fighter was broken when he lost to " Fighting Harada" by a controversial fifteen-round split decision in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, Japan, to lose the world Bantamweight title. After losing to Harada by unanimous decision at a rematch held in Tokyo on 1 June 1966, Jofre retired. In 1969, he made a comeback, beating Rudy Corona by a knockout in six rounds on 26 August. After winning thirteen fights in a row, he challenged for a world title once again: on 5 May 1973, he fought Jose Legra for the Lineal and WBC featherweight titles, in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

. Jofre became a two-division world champion by defeating Legra with a fifteen-round majority 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 defeated 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 the Mexican Octavio Gomez by a unanimous but controversial decision (120 – 110 by judge Antonio Di, 119 – 115 by judge Adriano Carollo and 117 – 116 by judge Américo Vieira) in São Paulo on 8 October 1976. In this last fight, Jofre was slow and uncertain, and himself put in doubt the correctness of the arbiter's decision ("Digam o que disserem, eu não venci Famoso Gomez" he said ti the Rio de Janeiro newspaper ''

O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the leading daily newspaper in the country and the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Ir ...

''). Jofre had a record of 72–2–4 (50 KOs), making him a member of the exclusive group of boxers who have won 50 or more fights by knockout.

After boxing

Jofre worked in politics, serving as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

for the city of São Paulo for 16 years. He then worked for DERSA, a state-owned company, working with the highways of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. In 2004, a DVD of Jofre's life titled "O Grande Campeão" was released. On Jofre's 85th birthday, in 2021, the first English language biography of his life was released. The book titled "Eder Jofre: Brazil's First Boxing World Champion", by family friend and author Christopher J. Smith won the "'Book of the Year'" at the "West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame" in October 2021 at the Loews Hotel in Hollywood, California. Present at the event was Jofre and his son, Marcel, and daughter, Andrea. Jofre was in Los Angeles to be inducted into the "West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame" and on this trip he re-visited the site of his bantamweight world title victory, The Olympic Auditorium - his first visit to the venue since that evening on 18 November 1960.

Exhibitions and calisthenics

Jofre occasionally came out of retirement to fight exhibitions. Some of his more noteworthy exhibitions were against Servilio de Oliveira and Alexis Arguello. In 2010, at age 74, Jofre, a physical fitness fanatic who was still the reflection of great health, put out a calisthenics video.

Vegetarianism

Jofre was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. He has been described as one of the few vegetarians ever to win a boxing world championship. He became a vegetarian at the age of 20 after reading a book that stated meat consumption was unhealthy for the body."Eder Jofre: The Golden Bantam"
boxeomundial.com. Retrieved 2 April 2022. Jofre adhered to his strict vegetarian diet from the age of 20 and commented in 2019 "I even feel disgust today when I see people eating meat... I eat pasta, rice and beans, boiled potatoes or fried and very sporadically egg. I drink milk, yogurt, curds, and honey".

Illness and death

Jofre suffered from

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets wor ...

. He was hospitalized in March 2022 at a clinic in Embu das Artes because of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. He died on 2 October due to complications from the disease. He was 86.

Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - ! !Result !Record !Opponent !Type !Round, time !Date !Location !Notes , -align=center , 78 , Win , 72–2–4 , align=left, Octavio Gomez , UD , 12 , 1976-10-08 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 77 , Win , 71–2–4 , align=left, Juan Antonio López , UD , 10 , 1976-08-13 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 76 , Win , 70–2–4 , align=left, Jose Antonio Jimenez , UD , 10 , 1976-07-02 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 75 , Win , 69–2–4 , align=left, Pasqualino Morbidelli , KO , 4 (10), , 1976-05-29 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 74 , Win , 68–2–4 , align=left, Michel Lefevbre , KO , 3 (10), , 1976-05-02 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 73 , Win , 67–2–4 , align=left, Enzo Farinelli , KO , 4 (10) , 1976-02-24 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 72 , Win , 66–2–4 , align=left, Niliberto Herrera , UD , 10 , 1975-01-03 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 71 , Win , 65–2–4 , align=left, Vicente Saldivar , KO , 4 (15) , 1973-10-21 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 70 , Win , 64–2–4 , align=left, Frankie Crawford , UD , 10 , 1973-08-25 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 69 , Win , 63–2–4 , align=left, Godfrey Stevens , KO , 4 (10) , 1973-07-21 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 68 , Win , 62–2–4 , align=left, José Legrá , MD , 15 , 1973-05-05 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 67 , Win , 61–2–4 , align=left, Djiemai Belhadri , KO , 3 (10) , 1972-09-29 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 66 , Win , 60–2–4 , align=left, Shig Fukuyama , TKO , 9 (10) , 1972-08-18 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 65 , Win , 59–2–4 , align=left, Jose Bisbal , KO , 2 (10) , 1972-06-30 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 64 , Win , 58–2–4 , align=left, Felix Figueroa , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 63 , Win , 57–2–4 , align=left, Guillermo Morales , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 62 , Win , 56–2–4 , align=left, Robert Porcel , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 61 , Win , 55–2–4 , align=left, Tony Jumao-As , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 60 , Win , 54–2–4 , align=left, Domenico Chiloiro , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 59 , Win , 53–2–4 , align=left, Jerry Stokes , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 58 , Win , 52–2–4 , align=left, Giovanni Girgenti , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 57 , Win , 51–2–4 , align=left, Roberto Wong , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 56 , Win , 50–2–4 , align=left, Manny Elias , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 55 , Win , 49–2–4 , align=left, Nevio Carbi , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 54 , Win , 48–2–4 , align=left, Rudy Corona , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 53 , Loss , 47–2–4 , align=left, Fighting Harada , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 52 , Draw , 47–1–4 , align=left, Manny Elias , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 51 , Loss , 47–1–3 , align=left, Fighting Harada , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 50 , Win , 47–0–3 , align=left, Bernardo Caraballo , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 49 , Win , 46–0–3 , align=left, Johnny Jamito , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 48 , Win , 45–0–3 , align=left, Katsutoshi Aoki , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 47 , Win , 44–0–3 , align=left, José Medel , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 46 , Win , 43–0–3 , align=left, Herman Marques , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 45 , Win , 42–0–3 , align=left, Johnny Caldwell , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 44 , Win , 41–0–3 , align=left, Fernando Gonçalves , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 43 , Win , 40–0–3 , align=left, Ramon Arias , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 42 , Win , 39–0–3 , align=left, Sadao Yaoita , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 41 , Win , 38–0–3 , align=left, Sugar Ray , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 40 , Win , 37–0–3 , align=left, Piero Rollo , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 39 , Win , 36–0–3 , align=left, Billy Peacock , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 38 , Win , 35–0–3 , align=left, Eloy Sanchez , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 37 , Win , 34–0–3 , align=left, Ricardo Moreno , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 36 , Win , 33–0–3 , align=left, José Medel , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 35 , Win , 32–0–3 , align=left, Claudio Barrientos , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 34 , Win , 31–0–3 , align=left, Ernesto Miranda , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 33 , Win , 30–0–3 , align=left, Ernesto Miranda , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 32 , Win , 29–0–3 , align=left, Danny Kid , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 31 , Win , 28–0–3 , align=left, Giovanni Zuddas , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 30 , Win , 27–0–3 , align=left, Angel Bustos , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 29 , Win , 26–0–3 , align=left, Ruben Cáceres , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 28 , Win , 25–0–3 , align=left, Salustiano Suarez , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 27 , Win , 24–0–3 , align=left, Angel Bustos , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 26 , Win , 23–0–3 , align=left, Leo Espinosa , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 25 , Win , 22–0–3 , align=left, Salustiano Suarez , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 24 , Win , 21–0–3 , align=left, Aniceto Pereyra , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 23 , Win , 20–0–3 , align=left, Roberto Castro , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 22 , Win , 19–0–3 , align=left, Jose Smecca , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 21 , Win , 18–0–3 , align=left, Jose Casas , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 20 , Win , 17–0–3 , align=left, Jose Casas , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 19 , Win , 16–0–3 , align=left, Roberto Olmedo , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 18 , Win , 15–0–3 , align=left, Juan Carlos Acebal , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 17 , Win , 14–0–3 , align=left, German Escudero , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 16 , Win , 13–0–3 , align=left, German Escudero , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 15 , Draw , 12–0–3 , align=left, Ruben Cáceres , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 14 , Win , 12–0–2 , align=left, Cristobal Gabisans , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 13 , Win , 11–0–2 , align=left, Avelino Romero , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 12 , Win , 10–0–2 , align=left, Cristobal Gabisans , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 11 , Win , 9–0–2 , align=left, Adolfo Ramon Pendas , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 10 , Win , 8–0–2 , align=left, Luis Angel Jimenez , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 9 , Draw , 7–0–2 , align=left, Ernesto Miranda , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 8 , Draw , 7–0–1 , align=left, Ernesto Miranda , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 7 , Win , 7–0 , align=left, Raul Jaime , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 6 , Win , 6–0 , align=left, Raul Jaime , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 5 , Win , 5–0 , align=left, Juan Gonzalez , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 4 , Win , 4–0 , align=left, Osvaldo Perez , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 3 , Win , 3–0 , align=left, Osvaldo Perez , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 2 , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Raul Lopez , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 1 , Win , 1–0 , align=left, Raul Lopez , align=left, , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* NYSAC

champion (118 lbs) * NBA (WBA) bantamweight champion (118 lbs) * WBC bantamweight champion (118 lbs) * WBC featherweight champion (126 lbs)

''The Ring'' magazine titles

* ''The Ring'' bantamweight champion (118 lbs)

Regional/International titles

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

bantamweight champion (118 lbs)

Undisputed titles

* Undisputed bantamweight champion

Honors

He was a member of the

. He is listed #16 on "International Boxing Research Organization" all-time pound-for-pound list.de andrade lima Page
/ref> In 1983, at the WBC's 20th anniversary, he was voted the greatest bantamweight of all time. He is also rated as the WBA'a all-time "super champion." He was listed #9 on "Ring Magazine's" 50 greatest boxers of the past 50 years in 1996. He is listed as #19 on ''Ring Magazine's'' list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years. In 2003, he was listed as #85 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. Jofre was ranked as the number 1 bantamweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization in 2006. Éder Jofre is depicted in the 2018 biographical film ''10 Segundos Para Vencer''. He was portrayed by Brazilian actor Daniel de Oliveira. In October 2021, he was inducted into the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame."Eder Jofre's Legacy Continues to Be Recognized, 61 Years After He First Became Champion"
ringtv.com. Retrieved 2 April 2022.

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

*

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jofre, Eder 1936 births 2022 deaths Brazilian male boxers Boxers from São Paulo Brazilian people of French descent Brazilian people of Greek descent Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent Olympic boxers for Brazil Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Brazilian architects Brazilian designers Deaths from pneumonia in São Paulo (state) Bantamweight boxers Featherweight boxers World bantamweight boxing champions World featherweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions The Ring (magazine) champions International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees São Paulo FC 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Municipal Chamber of São Paulo councillors Brazilian sportsperson-politicians