ATG BANTAMWEIGHT TOURNIE: Round 1, Fight 3 - EDER JOFRE TKO10 JOHNNY COULON

Perhaps a sliver ahead of his time in the way he used his jab to set opponents up for bodywork, Johnny Coulon (Seeded 14) comes across as a smart, durable, quick-handed fighter who might have challenged in any era.

Coulon emerged out of the old paperweight division to lift the bantamweight title against Frankie Conley in 1911. Issues with counter-claims were terminated in 1912 when he beat Harry Forbes for a second time and the lethal perpetual contender Frankie Burns. Burns was an old foe from his paperweight days and their first title fight was an epic affair of nip-and-tuck decided in a frantic final round. Their rematch was even closer, a draw, at which point Burns gave up on Coulon leaving him to stand astride the division like a colossus.

Coulon’s emergence directly after the collapse of the paperweight title and directly before the emergence of the golden generation of 1920s bantamweights may have rendered him something of a curiosity for the more modern boxing fan but to the old-timers he was catnip. He is one of the few fighters that Charley Rose, Nat Fleischer and Herb Goldman all believe belong in the top ten at bantamweight.

For me, there is an argument. Coulon’s title reign runs through thirteen defenses before he lost it to the all-time great Kid Williams in 1912. That is a huge number. The flip side of this coin is that Coulon boxed a lot of no contests, that is, fights where he had to lose by knockout to be separated from the championship as no official decision was being rendered, and he lost two of them according to ringsiders.

This content is protected

Eder Jofre (seeded 3) is perhaps the most consistent on film of all the fighters in this tournament. He always looks great, even when he's losing to a juggernaut. He first came to honors in February of 1960, beating the ranked (some sources have him #1) Ernesto Miranda for the South American bantamweight title and then beating him again several months later by knockout. Joe Medel was then stopped in ten in a title eliminator before he picked up the NBA title against the slipping but still ranked Eloy Sanchez, whom he overwhelmed in just six. He defended against the #3 contender Piero Rollo and the soon-to-be ranked Ramon Arias before polishing off Johnny Caldwell and Herman Marques to unify. Jofre added four more defenses and then ran into Harada who merrily carried his title off, consigning Jofre to history - at least at bantamweight.

This content is protected

So does Coulon, a golden bantam in his own right, have any chance against Eder Jofre.

Who will win under the following rules?

15 round fight.
1950s referee.
8oz boxing gloves.

Cast your vote and explain yourself in a post below! You have 3 days.

 

The forum is troubled.

Well it should be Jofre but it probably should be points. He was only stopped 1/3 by Kid Williams, in his last fight before he retired and his first comeback fight in 1920. Too tough, too smart to get found out IMO. So I think Jofre will place Coulon under control and Coulon will get home in a painful one, dropping a wide decision.

Interesting fighter, Coulon.

 

Unless Joe Lynch knocks him out!

 

Yes, sadly, there's not much hope for Coulon. It's a shame he didn't draw a pressure fighter because he could have dealt with maybe any of them. I think he's getting roundly and soundly out-jabbed here then that advantage steadily built upon until Coulon is placed in a box. Hard to be sure what will happen then but it won't be good.

I'll go for Jofre TKO15 Coulon.

 

In a shockingly one-sided affair, Eder Jofre breezed into the quarter-finals, stopping Johnny Coulon after ten rounds. Jofre took control in the very first round with his jab, surprisingly aggressive in pushing back Coulon who looked surprised by the combination of speed and accuracy. No adaptions were forthcoming and Coulon was hurt badly by right hands in the seventh, eighth and ninth, the towel thrown in during a tenth round in which Jofre seemed unable to miss.

One of the pre-tournament favourites has placed the division on notice.