What did you make of him from the Harada fights? He was a bit drained and depleted at bantam by that time and not quite at his best. There are quite a few other clips of him floating about nowadays, though still not enough for my liking. Have a look at what's available of the Medel fights and the clips against Sanchez, Caraballo, Caldwell and some of his comeback stuff at feather when he was physically very declined but still had great drive and a preserved skill set. There's also some footage of the Aoki fight and probably the Saldivar fight hidden away in the collective clutches of several collectors if I'm not mistaken. ****ing magpies. Known as the mini Robinson in his day, though it seems to be a label that has attracted one or two dissenters. Famous grumpy old ******* Nat Fleischer - notorious for old timer bias - believed he was the best p4p fighter in the world and the best bantamweight of all time. There's some great stuff by a bloke called Dan Cuoco on IBRO/CBZ on him. Vic-Jofre, who posts oh here - excellently, I might add - is one of the best sources of info on him and has dug up some terrific stuff. Can't say that I disagree with Fleischer and Cuoco tbh. Greatest bantam of all, for me and probably most others I should imagine. An aggressive, tough, superbly inclined all round boxer-puncher who could do just about everything in one of the great though very unappreciated lower weight eras. He wasn't especially tall but had a very long reach and fought out of a slight crouch which gave him a slightly unique look and approach imo. Great fighter at any range with a top chin, elite powers of recovery, power, every punch in the book (particularly the left hook/uppercut), timing, balance, nuanced technique, a solid defence, footwork, lateral movement etc. He wasn't the fastest of either hand or foot, mind you, although not exactly a slouch in that regard and could sometimes wing his punches, though I think his somewhat disproportionate reach in relation to his height exaggerated this at times. He took his title all over the world too. Oh, and he was a vegetarian and seems to be one of the minority of great fighters who has prospered in retirement, in terms of both his health and his finances. Top wins against a multitude of stylists including Jose Medel x2 (two of the most significant wins in the divisions history imo), Johnny Caldwell, Katsutoshi Aoki, Herman Marquez, Sadao Yaoita, Eloy Sanchez, Bernardo Caraballo, Piero Rollo, Ernesto Miranda, Jose Legra, Jose Smecca, Frankie Crawford, Billy Peacock, Octavio Gomez, Leo Espinosa, Johnny Jamito, Ramon Arias, a badly faded Vicente Saldivar years too late and probably a few others. There are also plenty of people, myself included, who think that he deserved the nod in at least one of the Harada fights, though I haven't seen them in some time. One of the problems when it comes to accurately assessing him is that we often don't know enough about several of his opponents. Bantamweight history post Manuel Ortiz up to the end of Jofre's reign has been woefully underchronicled, although I think we know enough to say that it was still a terrific division. Incidentally, despite beating just about everyone there was to beat during his time, I do think Jofre suffers from a) the fact that most of the former champions from the late fifties - guys like Becerra and Macias - retired very young before they crossed paths with him, and b) the misconception that his era/reign was weak due to the iron-fisted nature of his dominance and that some of his opponents aren't really known outside hardcore boxing circles. He was something of a mystery to many people for years because of how elusive everything around him seemed to be. He's one of those fighters who I've slowly become more and more impressed with upon repeated viewing and as an increasing amount of footage and info has come out of the woodwork. One of the very, very best fighters I've seen captured on film. PS: Would've been great to see him against Saldivar at featherweight. Would've probably happened too if Harada hadn't ambushed him before he had the chance.
Great post Tin, as always. http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11268059&postcount=1165 My english wasn´t too good in those days, is not exactly well written as I would like, to explain the career of Eder. In terms of skills, I think that there is a quote from Leonardo da Vinci that summarizes Eder very well, when he says that “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” IMO Eder was exactly like that, a simple style when you look at it the first time, but he was so versatile and yet patient to make the right things at the right time and without mistakes, that is really impressive when you think about it. Very powerful, not exactly like a guy like Olivares, but still a great puncher.... Check this btw, there is more out there.....unfortunately full fights are still hard to get.... http://www.youtube.com/user/VICboxesep/videos http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=391011
Yeah, I agree with the analysis that he may be the greatest bantamweight of all time. Would've loved to see how the next generation bantamweights have fared against him. Guys like Olivares, Zarate, among others. Jofre thrashed a lot of good Filipino fighter as well. So he gets mad respect.
Great post Tin_Ribs. Jofre was patient as well. Aoki was seemingly laying it on him until he exploded. Terrific body puncher.
Expect all d truth and nothing but d truth from Eder Jofre's grandson . If and when that "missing footage" of Jofre floats , know that some1 has mastered d art of video editing . Expect it 2b a highlights / partial video of some sort , with d dirty parts censored out very carefully . Jofre vs Medel #1 is on youtube . Jofre looks good there , but it is hard 2 notice d extent of d damage that Jofre's loose laces caused 2 Medel's eyes in that low resolution black&white video . "U get KOd by d punch u do not c" D referee himself paused d fight and tied Jofre's laces after noticing what is impossible or at least very hard 4d viewer at home 2 note had d referee not done it . Also Medel was good , but gets over8ed due 2 his KO of Harada and his mixed results in n era which most of d truth about will 4ever remain unknown 2 most and untold 2 all . This is Y highlights/edited videos r deceiving and i recommend 2 never watch them . 2me , fight existing in a HL/edited version means that it does not exist at all . These versions r usually released by partisan party of some personal interest 2d subject .
I just got some lost footage of Jofre. As I say, he's getting thoroughly outworked by Aoki before he figures out what shots he's open to and beats him down.
One of the most complete fighters i have ever seen, could do it all box on the inside box on the outside,good puncher, excellent body puncher, great chin, good defense, he was the complete package truly one of the greats. And great post Tin.
As others have said he was a patient boxer-puncher who did everything well and lots of things exceptionally well. He was also a Top 10 atg when it comes to bodypunching imo.
Good man Vic, I was hoping you'd put that piece forward. Flea, good point about Jofre's patience and his body punching too. Yielded good results for him against Marquez after a slow start iirc as well as Aoki, who was a world class fighter even if he could be gotten to. I tend to think Jofre was a slowish starter in general; he was the same against Caraballo too if memory serves me. Not afraid to take his lumps until he'd sussed out what to do. Similar to Zarate in a way, if a bit more openly aggressive and sudden when feeling his way in.
Nice post, I just made a similar assessment in the Jofre-Olivares thread there. I'll be sending you a link to a special bit of footage soon so keep your PM box open. To give a clue, it concerns this thread
Touche . I think I like Medel over Zamora and he was on a similar level to someone like Chucho, or Herrera and Macias maybe, though no doubt an alternative argument could be put forward. I wouldn't rail too much against anyone disagreeing because he was inconsistent to say the least. Lethal as **** though when he was revving at full throttle and even more so if you didn't give him due respect. Jofre gave him just that and it was brilliant the way he beat Jose at his own game......
You seen Medel blast Seki? Man was a master at setting traps. A master. And his punching power was absolutely. ****ing. deadly.