61 years ago today: José Louis "Chegüi" Torres vs. Gorman Donald "Gomeo" Brennan

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AFAIK this is the only time Angelo Dundee and Cus D'Amato went h2h as coaches. Could be wrong, but it's the only instance I could turn up after an extensive search.

Torres was six years deep in his pro career, not yet a champion but knuckles raised to rap on the door. His final obstacles before challenging elusive Louisianan incumbent Wilfred Raleigh "Willie the Wisp/Fatmeat" Pastrano would be Brennan and Carl Elmer "Bobo" Olson.

A major speedbump came 17 months earlier, when Torres was flattened by hammer-handed Cuban glass cannon Florentino "the Ox / El Barbaro del Knock Out" Fernández - himself coming off a crushing loss the year prior. Fernández had been knocked out in just over a minute by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. It's understandable then, why the Gramercy team felt the undersized and inconsistent Fernández (coming in 9-6 in his previous fifteen bouts) was a safe stepping stone for Torres. Nope.

If indeed it was a misstep, however, it was minor one. Torres took just one match to shake out his nerves and get back into a confident headspace, clearly defeating Don Fullmer despite holding back by his own admission.

In the other corner is Gomeo Brennan, an 8½ year pro who incidentally also had a loss to Rubin Carter the year before he fought Torres...but on points. The durable Bahamian would in fact never be knocked out in his entire career; only stopped once near the very end of it, by Vicente Paúl Rondón in 1971 - and that on cuts/swelling.

Up through '64, it was stop & go - racking up win streaks against lower-tier opposition but always falling short against the best he faced (including young future undisputed welterweight champ Luis Manuel "El Feo" Rodríguez, and aforementioned future middleweight title challenger Rubin Carter...plus a handful of colorfully nicknamed fringe contenders & unbeaten prospects such as "Crazy Horse Smith, "Skeeter" McClure, and Holly Mims).

Six months earlier, Brennan lost his Commonwealth middleweight title in the 1st defense of his first reign. Brennan - who fought nine times in his career at the "Marlin & Tuna Club" at home in Bimini - ventured into an opponent's backyard and went 15 hard rounds only to be sent packing...by a man named Tuna. Seriously. The southpaw Samoan-Kiwi was christened Tuna Williard Scanlan. His artificial ring name ...was Frank. By contemporaneous written accounts, Scanlan was considered the most exciting pugilist from New Zealand to ever lace up a pair of gloves...but alas, I can't turn up a shred of footage on him, period (let alone of his capture of the CBC belt versus Brennan).

And now, the fight itself!

Round 1 - Torres, close, slipping the jab well and firing his own from that famous peek-a-boo. Brennan with some masterful feints (especially with the uppercut, sharply withdrawn halfway to payload delivery) but Torres hip to his game and not biting. Excellent body punching both ways. 10-9 Torres

Round 2 - Torres again, but this is no mismatch in boxing skill. Brennan right there with him, landing just a bit less with his own piston jab and 1-2. Neither working angles or hitting the body as much as in the opener. Hilarious moment when either a member of his corner, the press, or the crowd, loudly intones "Come on, Brennan, you're on television" - picked up very loudly on the mic and echoing throughout Miami Beach Exhibition Hall. Honestly, he's doing fine - rushing recklessly in on a prime Chegüi at 32-1-1 with 25 kayos seems a singularly bad idea. 20-18 Torres

Round 3 - Torres winning the jab duel, slipping & scoring, but Brennan is touching him up downstairs. Torres is made cautious and willingly gives ground, with Brennan now showing accuracy sniping with the front-foot jab and hooking off it. Brennan now slipping Torres' right, and belts him wiht a mean left hook on the liver that livens up the audience for a moment. Strong jabbing from a confident Brennan to close the round. Torres attempts to rally with some wrecking balls down low but is fended off. 10-9 Brennan, 29-28 Torres

Round 4 - Brennan continues to come forward behind his jab but is respectfully leery of Torres' right hand, able to dart outside to dodge it but not to avoid the quick-drop left hooks on the body Torres claims as recompense. They jab together, both scoring crisply on the mush. A bit of roughness and forearm grappling/hand-fighting on the inside. Now they lean chest to chest and smack each other roundhouse on the flanks. Brennan pushes off and lands a straight volley before leaning in again to clinch. Good left upper-hook from Torres and then a combo in return from Brennan, now on the backfoot. 10-9 Brennan, super close, 38-38

Round 5 - Brennan starts very well, catching Torres with every step he takes inside with either a strapping hook across the stomach or a jab in the mouth. Torres unable to generate much offense in the first minute. Tries ramming in a big hook up top, blocked. They grind in close for some infighting and neither really gets the best of it before they shove apart. The remainder of the inning sees them exchanging jabs at range, both displaying good head movement, with the occasional body dig. Crowd sounds restless and not very appreciative of the very high level chess match they're being treated to. ...filthy Floridian casuals. 10-9 Brennan, close, 48-47 Brennan

Round 6 - Whipping body shots and then a hard right up top from Brennan visibly hurt Torres, who clinches. Torres responds well after clearing the cobwebs, parrying jabs off his right glove and threading in his own, keen on establishing himself as the walking-to man. Superb feints by Torres, faking a dive-in right hand to make Brennan tip his hand and show his reaction. Torres eats a couple of jabs stepping into the danger zone, but is getting what he wants - a reduction of distance, and before Brennan knows what's happening his face is being painted by short jabs, hooks, and rights. Torres crowding in, full peek-a-boo mode, elbows to his waistband, bodying up against Brennan and muscling him across the ring. 10-9 Brennan, close, but a tactical comeback has begun, 58-56 Brennan

Round 7 - Brennan pump-faking the jab, then swinging wildly in with both hands. Torres ducks and weaves among the power blasts, unscathed. Torres rips a sidewinding right hand into Brennan's torso from outside ducking in. Torres changing levels, catching Brennan's jab on his forearms, pressuring without punching. Solid jab by Torres, puts Brennan on his heels. Chopping right by Torres. Brennan, perhaps a bit wild-eyed now, seems to realize that he no longer holds the reins of generalship and is now just reacting in the moment to what Torres is throwing at him. 10-9 Torres, 67-66 Brennan

Round 8 - Torres putting more of himself into his combinations now - 1-2-1 and 1-2-3. Torres rolling the dice, good way to punch oneself out. He calms down when it's clear that Brennan isn't folding and still intelligently defending himself. Both tired but still unwilling to fall into an output deficit. Answering tit for tat with jabs and body shots. Brennan hurt and holds. Big right hand by Torres. Left hook on the body from Torres. Brennan steadies the ship with a few sharp backfoot jabs but there is too little sand in the hourglass for him to salvage this frame. 10-9 Torres, 76-76

Round 9 - Brennan makes a point to be first, getting his jabs in early & often on the nose of Torres. Brennan jabbing well for the first minute while Torres dives in with blocked 1-2s. Torres zips his forearms together and starts to screen out jabs, also moving his head side to side, hammering into Brennan's body with both hands and delivering sandbag rights at the head. Brennan jumping in with left hooks on the body, partially caught on Torres' elbow. Good exchange inside before the bell. Brennan with the last blow, a clean jab. 10-9 Brennan, close, 86-85 Brennan

Round 10 - Brennan again wants to draw figurative first blood, but Torres is in an effective bobbing rhythm and doesn't take a lick. Instead it's Torres who scores the first significant damage of the round with a heavy straight right. Torres is drawing the lead from Brennan, walking in with his guard split invitingly wide, then countering with his own jab or slamming himself chest-first into Brennan. Right hand notched into the armpit by Torres under an extended Brennan jab. Good left hook by Torres scraping the bottom of Brennan's chin. They battle in the pocket, and Torres is banging away high and low with hooks. 10-9 Torres, 95-95

The contest is scored by referee Cy Gottfried (a born New Yorker, but Miami boxing royalty...his officiating career in the city - from 1946 until 1980 - touched 5 decades, and eleven years before this he'd reffed Miami's first televised boxing match, Joseph Anthony Miceli vs Pierre Langlois II) and judges Gus Jacobson & Barry Pearlman.

96-95 Torres
96-96 draw
97-94, tiebreaker ...MD for Torres.

Interesting that all three of them implicitly must have scored at least one round even in there somewhere. (to reach those scores, as there were no point deductions or knockdowns or standing eights). 10-10 scoring wasn't so uncommon or vilified in those days. There are definitely a few rounds here that, were it not conditioned into me to "pick a winner", could have been level.

Let's deconstruct:

Gottfried had to have given 5-4-1 in favor of Torres; Pearlman deadlocked at 4-4-2; Jacobson 6 for Torres, one level, and 3 for Brennan. No complaints about the result - won't call it a robbery...but neither would a draw have been an injustice, nor Gomeo narrowly getting the nod.

It didn't affect things much in the grand scheme - Torres would pass his next test with flying colors, blitzing Olson to kick open the door to Pastrano's throne room. Brennan would soldier on for eight more years, with mixed success.

 

(Their real marquee battle would & should have been Ali vs. Patterson, but Floyd had already split with Cus by that first encounter in '65. Cus had already passed away by Tyson vs. Berbick, and didn't corner Mike professionally anyway. Likewise, alternate reality fantasies wherein Hagler moves to NY, not MA, to be managed & trained by D'Amato instead of the Petronellis, still wouldn't have given us a major Angelo-Cus showdown at middleweight, as Hagler fought Leonard two years after D'Amato's passing)