José Torres

Born in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Torres began boxing when he joined the United States Army as a teenager (he was 17 years old).[1] His only amateur titles had come in Army and Inter-Service championships, several of which he had won. Torres was still in the Army when he won the Silver Medal in the light middleweight division at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, where he lost to László Papp of Hungary in the final.[2]

Torres trained at the Empire Sporting Club in New York City with trainer Cus D'Amato.[3]

He was the 1958 National AAU Middleweight Champion and also won the 1958 New York Golden Gloves 160 lb Open Championship.

He debuted as a professional in 1958 with a first-round knockout of George Hamilton in New York. Twelve wins in a row followed, ten of them by knockout (including wins over contenders Ike Jenkins and Al Andrews), after which he was able to make his San Juan debut against Benny Paret, a future world welterweight champion from Cuba. Torres and Paret fought to a ten-round draw, and in 1960, Torres went back to campaigning in New York, where he scored three wins that year, all by decision, including two over Randy Sandy.

In 1961, Torres made his hometown debut with a four-round knockout win in a rematch with Hamilton at Ponce. He had six more fights that year, winning all of them by knockout.

Torres kept his knockout streak alive through 1962 with three more knockout wins but, in 1963, he suffered his first loss, being stopped in five by Cuba's Florentino Fernández, the only boxer ever to beat Torres by a knockout as a professional. After that setback, Torres went back to training and had one more fight that year, and that time around, he was able to beat another top contender in Don Fullmer, Gene Fullmer's brother, with a ten-round decision win in New Jersey.

In 1964, Torres beat a group of name boxers, including Jose Gonzalez, Walker Simmons (twice), Frankie Olivera, Gomeo Brennan and former world Middleweight champion Carl Olson (Bobo), taken out in one round. After this, Torres was ranked number 1 among Light Heavyweight challengers, and his title shot would soon arrive.

It happened in 1965 at Madison Square Garden. Torres defeated the International Boxing Hall Of Fame member, and World Light Heavyweight champion Willie Pastrano. In so doing, Torres became the third Puerto Rican world boxing champion in history and the first Latin American to win the world Light Heavyweight title, knocking Pastrano out in round nine. Later that year, he fought a non-title bout versus Tom McNeeley (father of former Mike Tyson rival Peter McNeeley) in San Juan, winning a ten-round decision.

In 1966, he successfully defended his crown three times, with 15-round decisions over Wayne Thornton and Eddie Cotton and a two-round knockout of Chic Calderwood. In his next defense, however, he would lose it to another Hall Of Fame member, Nigeria's Dick Tiger, by a decision in 15 rounds.

In 1967, he and Tiger had a rematch, and Torres lost a 15-round decision again. Many fans thought he should have won it that time, and as a consequence, a large riot followed the fight.[4]

After his second defeat to Tiger, Torres only fought twice more, retiring after 1969.

In his years after retiring from boxing, he became a representative of the Puerto Rican community in New York, meeting political leaders, giving lectures and becoming the New York State Athletic Commission's Commissioner from 1984 to 1988. In 1986, he was chosen to sing the United States National Anthem before the world Lightweight championship bout between Jimmy Paul and Irleis Perez in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1990 he became President of the WBO, and he was President until 1995. He was also a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Torres regularly contributed a column to the New York Post (which he obtained with the help of his friend, Pete Hamill), as well as to El Diario La Prensa, a Spanish language newspaper in New York City. He also wrote for The Village Voice. In 1971 he co-authored Sting Like a Bee, a biography of Muhammad Ali.[5] In 1989, he wrote the Mike Tyson biography Fire and Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson (which would be adapted into the 1995 HBO television movie Tyson).[6]

In 2007, Torres announced his decision to move back to his hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico and concentrate on writing books and articles related to sports and history. On August 6, 2008, Torres received a recognition for his military career.[7]

Torres died in the morning of January 19, 2009, of a heart attack at his home in Ponce, Puerto Rico.[6][8] There are plans to move his remains to the Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro, a national pantheon and museum, in Ponce, Puerto Rico.[9] He is also recognized at Ponce's Parque de los Ponceños Ilustres in the area of sports.[10] During his life Torres was the subject of two documentaries by famed Japanese film director Hiroshi Teshigahara.

41 Wins (29 knockouts), 3 Losses (1 knockout), 1 Draw[11]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round Time	Date	Location	Notes
Win	41–3–1	Charley Green	KO	2 (10) 1:31	1969–07–14	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	40–3–1	Bob Dunlop	TKO	6 (10)	1968–04–01	Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales
Loss	39–3–1	Dick Tiger	SD	15	1967–05–16	Madison Square Garden, New York City	For WBA, WBC, and The Ring light heavyweight titles
Loss	39–2–1	Dick Tiger	UD	15	1966–12–16	Madison Square Garden, New York City	Lost WBA, WBC, and The Ring light heavyweight titles
Win	39–1–1	Chic Calderwood	KO	2 (15) 2:06	1966–10–15	Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan	Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring light heavyweight titles
Win	38–1–1	Eddie Cotton	UD	15	1966–08–15	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas	Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring light heavyweight titles
Win	37–1–1	Wayne Thornton	UD	15	1966–05–21	Shea Stadium, New York City	Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring light heavyweight titles
Win	36–1–1	Tom McNeeley	UD	10	1965–07–31	Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan
Win	35–1–1	Willie Pastrano	TKO	9 (15) 3:00	1965–03–30	Madison Square Garden, New York City	Won WBA, WBC, and The Ring light heavyweight titles
Win	34–1–1	Carl Olson	KO	1 (10) 2:51	1964–11–27	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	33–1–1	Gomeo Brennan	MD	10	1964–09–04	Miami Beach Convention Hall, Miami Beach, Florida
Win	32–1–1	Walker Simmons	KO	6 (10)	1964–07–20	Sargent Field, New Bedford, Massachusetts
Win	31–1–1	Frankie Olivera	TKO	5 (10)	1964–06–22	Sargent Field, New Bedford, Massachusetts
Win	30–1–1	Wilbert McClure	UD	10	1964–05–15	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	29–1–1	Walker Simmons	TKO	8 (10) 2:29	1964–04–21	Sunnyside Gardens, New York City
Win	28–1–1	José Gonzalez	UD	10	1964–01–03	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	27–1–1	Don Fullmer	PTS	10	1963–10–09	Teaneck Armory, Teaneck, New Jersey
Loss	26–1–1	Florentino Fernández	TKO	5 (10) 2:07	1963–05–25	Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan
Win	26–0–1	Al Hauser	TKO	3 (10)	1962–12–14	Boston Garden, Boston
Win	25–0–1	Obdulio Nuñez	KO	7 (12)	1962–07–27	Estadio Sixto Escobar, San Juan	Won Puerto Rican middleweight title
Win	24–0–1	Jimmy Watkins	RTD	7 (10)	1962–04–10	Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, New York
Win	23–0–1	Tony Montano	KO	4 (10)	1961–11–28	Houston, Texas
Win	22–0–1	George Price	KO	2 (10) 2:31	1961–10–31	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas
Win	21–0–1	Ike White	KO	3 (10) 1:30	1961–06–27	Boston Arena, Boston
Win	20–0–1	Mel Collins	KO	7 (10) 0:30	1961–06–05	Boston Arena, Boston
Win	19–0–1	Bob Young	TKO	5 (10)	1961–05–23	Boston Arena, Boston
Win	18–0–1	Bobby Barnes	KO	3 (10)	1961–04–01	Plaza Ballroom, Paterson, New Jersey
Win	17–0–1	Gene Hamilton	TKO	4 (10) 1:21	1961–02–17	Estadio Francisco Montaner, Ponce
Win	16–0–1	Randy Sandy	UD	10	1960–06–11	Sunnyside Gardens, New York City
Win	15–0–1	Tony Dupas	MD	10	1960–03–15	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York
Win	14–0–1	Randy Sandy	PTS	10	1960–01–30	Armory, Elizabeth, New Jersey
Draw	13–0–1	Benny Paret	PTS	10	1959–09–26	Estadio Sixto Escobar, San Juan
Win	13–0	Al Andrews	TKO	6 (8) 0:42	1959–06–26	Yankee Stadium, New York City
Win	12–0	Joe Shaw	TKO	5 (10) 2:40	1959–04–23	Sunnyside Gardens, New York City
Win	11–0	Leroy Oliphant	TKO	3 (10)	1959–03–19	Sunnyside Gardens, New York City
Win	10–0	Eddie Wright	TKO	5 (8) 2:10	1959–02–26	Sunnyside Gardens, New York City
Win	9–0	Isaac Jenkins	TKO	5 (10)	1958–12–04	Sunnyside Gardens, New York City
Win	8–0	Burke Emery	TKO	5 (10) 2:07	1958–11–03	St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win	7–0	Frankie Anselm	KO	9 (10) 2:12	1958–10–13	St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win	6–0	Otis Woodward	TKO	5 (10)	1958–09–29	St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win	5–0	Benny Doyle	KO	1 (6)	1958–08–18	Wrigley Field, Los Angeles
Win	4–0	Wes Lowry	PTS	6	1958–07–05	Eastern Parkway Arena, New York City
Win	3–0	Joe Salvato	KO	4 (6) 1:40	1958–06–21	Eastern Parkway Arena, New York City
Win	2–0	Walter Irby	PTS	6	1958–06–07	Eastern Parkway Arena, New York City
Win	1–0	Gene Hamilton	KO	1 (4)	1958–05–24	Eastern Parkway Arena, New York City

Puerto Ricans in the International Boxing Hall of Fame

  = Indicates the person is no longer alive

• List of light heavyweight boxing champions
• List of Puerto Ricans
• List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions
• Sports in Puerto Rico

• Boxing record for José Torres from BoxRec
• José Torres - CBZ Profile