HALL-OF-FAMER TORRES DIES
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 21 Jan 2009
One of the all-time great light heavyweight champions and a Hall-of-Famer Jose ?Chegui? Torres has died in his native Puerto Rico at the age of 72.
His widow Ramonita said Torres died of a heart attack.
Torres who had a ring record of 41-3-1 with 29 knockouts won a silver medal at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, representing the United States. He went on to win the WBC and WBA light heavyweight titles with a 9th round TKO over Willie Pastrano in a scheduled 15-round bout at New York?s famed Madison Square Garden on March 30, 1965. His body shots were devastating.
Torres made three successful title defenses and his battle with Eddie Cotton on August 15, 1966 when he won a 15 round unanimous decision was named by Ring Magazine as ?Fight of the Year.?
He lost the title to the tenacious Nigerian Dick Tiger in a close decision on December 16, 1966 at Madison Square Garden and in a rematch on May 16, 1967 at the same historic venue dropped a split decision to Tiger.
His last fight was on April 1, 1968 when Torres scored a sixth round TKO over Bob Dunlop.
After he retired Torres became Chairman of the New York State Boxing Commission and served as a supervisor of the World Boxing Organization based in Puerto Rico. Torres was enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997.
David Bernier, president of the US territory's Olympic committee, said ?Puerto Rico has lost a great Puerto Rican, a very valiant persons who, aside from being a great athlete was a great human being.?
The mayor of Ponce, on the island's southern coast, declared three days of mourning and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast.
Torres trained with the legendary Cus D? Amato, the man who was trainer/manager of Floyd Patterson, the two-time heavyweight champion of the world and later rescued Mike Tyson from detention.
His only draw was against the excellent Cuban fighter Benny ?The Kid? Paret in a ten-round bout in Torres? native San Juan. Paret went on to win the world welterweight championship twice.
Torres who was a respected journalist wrote two boxing biographies. One was on Muhammad Ali titled ?Sting Like A Bee? while the other was on Tyson ?Fire and Fear.?
His fame as a light heavyweight is perhaps second only to Archie Moore who often moved up to challenge the great heavyweights of that era and who was voted by the Boxing Writers Association of America as the greatest light heavyweight ever.
Jose ?Chegui? Torres was a fighter in an era when boxing was a sport of consummate skill, dedication and decency. While we will always remember his exploits in the ring we salute him for his humanitarian work outside. May his soul rest in peace.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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