Bennie Briscoe
Encyclopedia
"Bad" Bennie Briscoe was the quintessential Philadelphia boxer.
"Bad" Bennie fought from 1962 to 1982, and retired with a career record of 66 wins (53 by KO) 24 losses and 5 draws. Briscoe was a top-rated Middleweight contender during the 1970s, unsuccessfully challenging for the World Title on three different occasions. His record reads like a "who's who" list of prominent fighters from his era.
He won the Middle Atlantic AAU title three times, the last in 1962 at Convention Hall in Philadelphia.
champions Marvin Hagler
, Vito Antuofermo
, Rodrigo Valdez
, Emile Griffith
and Carlos Monzón
. He also fought and defeated future light-heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
, Tom Bethea, Carlos Marks, Rafael Gutierrez, Charley Scott, Billy "Dynamite" Douglas, George Benton, Vicente Rondon, Jose Gonzales (twice), Art Hernandez, Tony Mundine, Stanley "Kitten" Hayward, Juarez DeLima, Eugene "Cyclone" Hart and Tony Chiaverini. Briscoe also dropped two decisions to former welterweight champion Luis Rodriguez.
Bennie was known for his toughness, strong punch and body punching. He fought future middleweight champion Monzon to a draw in Buenos Aires
on May 6, 1967, but dropped a 15 round decision to the champion in a 1972 title match. Briscoe was outpointed by former welterweight
and middleweight
king Emile Griffith
in their first match, but fought Griffith to a draw in a rematch. He was outpointed by future middleweight champions Marvin Hagler
and Vito Antuofermo
.
Bennie also fought Rodrigo Valdez
three times. He was outpointed twice, but Valdez scored a rare KO over Briscoe in an elimination match to determine the WBC middleweight champion on May 25, 1974 - it was the only time in 96 fights that Briscoe was ever stopped. The WBC had decided to "strip" Monzon of its version of the middleweight crown, although the rest of the world continued to recognize Monzon as champion.
Briscoe was one of the most feared middleweights of his era. In 2003, he was named to the The Ring
' s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. His final record was 66-24-5 with 53 knockouts and one No Contest.
Briscoe fought with the Star of David
on his boxing trunks in tribute to his managers, first Jimmy Iselin, whose father Phil owned the New York Jets
, and Arnold Weiss
.
"Bad" Bennie fought from 1962 to 1982, and retired with a career record of 66 wins (53 by KO) 24 losses and 5 draws. Briscoe was a top-rated Middleweight contender during the 1970s, unsuccessfully challenging for the World Title on three different occasions. His record reads like a "who's who" list of prominent fighters from his era.
Amateur career
Briscoe had a standout career as an amateur, compiling a record of 70–3 (Source: The Ring, Sept 1963).He won the Middle Atlantic AAU title three times, the last in 1962 at Convention Hall in Philadelphia.
Professional career
Bennie fought MiddleweightMiddleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
champions Marvin Hagler
Marvin Hagler
Marvelous Marvin Hagler , is a former professional boxer who was undisputed world middleweight champion between 1980 and 1987. Hagler holds the distinction of having the highest KO% of all middleweight champions at 78%...
, Vito Antuofermo
Vito Antuofermo
Vito Antuofermo is an Italian-American actor who is also a former world Middleweight boxing champion.-Background:Antuofermo was born in Italy, in the town of Palo del Colle, which is located about 15 km inland from the city of Bari. but his family moved to the United States when he was 17...
, Rodrigo Valdez
Rodrigo Valdez
Rodrigo Valdéz is a former boxer from Colombia who was a two-time world middleweight champion and former undisputed middleweight champion of the world whose rivalry with Carlos Monzón has long been considered among the most legendary boxing rivalries. Valdez was trained by International Boxing...
, Emile Griffith
Emile Griffith
Emile Alphonse Griffith is a former boxer who was the first fighter from the U.S. Virgin Islands ever to become a world champion. He is perhaps best known for his controversial third fight with Benny Paret in 1962 for the welterweight world championship...
and Carlos Monzón
Carlos Monzón
Carlos Monzón was an Argentine professional boxer who held the undisputed world middleweight title for 7 years, during which he successfully defended the title 14 times....
. He also fought and defeated future light-heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad is a retired American boxer.- Amateur career :Boxing under his birth name, Eddie Gregory, Muhammad won two New York Golden Gloves Championships. Gregory won both the 1971 and the 1972 New York Golden Gloves 147 lb Open Championships...
, Tom Bethea, Carlos Marks, Rafael Gutierrez, Charley Scott, Billy "Dynamite" Douglas, George Benton, Vicente Rondon, Jose Gonzales (twice), Art Hernandez, Tony Mundine, Stanley "Kitten" Hayward, Juarez DeLima, Eugene "Cyclone" Hart and Tony Chiaverini. Briscoe also dropped two decisions to former welterweight champion Luis Rodriguez.
Bennie was known for his toughness, strong punch and body punching. He fought future middleweight champion Monzon to a draw in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
on May 6, 1967, but dropped a 15 round decision to the champion in a 1972 title match. Briscoe was outpointed by former welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
and middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
king Emile Griffith
Emile Griffith
Emile Alphonse Griffith is a former boxer who was the first fighter from the U.S. Virgin Islands ever to become a world champion. He is perhaps best known for his controversial third fight with Benny Paret in 1962 for the welterweight world championship...
in their first match, but fought Griffith to a draw in a rematch. He was outpointed by future middleweight champions Marvin Hagler
Marvin Hagler
Marvelous Marvin Hagler , is a former professional boxer who was undisputed world middleweight champion between 1980 and 1987. Hagler holds the distinction of having the highest KO% of all middleweight champions at 78%...
and Vito Antuofermo
Vito Antuofermo
Vito Antuofermo is an Italian-American actor who is also a former world Middleweight boxing champion.-Background:Antuofermo was born in Italy, in the town of Palo del Colle, which is located about 15 km inland from the city of Bari. but his family moved to the United States when he was 17...
.
Bennie also fought Rodrigo Valdez
Rodrigo Valdez
Rodrigo Valdéz is a former boxer from Colombia who was a two-time world middleweight champion and former undisputed middleweight champion of the world whose rivalry with Carlos Monzón has long been considered among the most legendary boxing rivalries. Valdez was trained by International Boxing...
three times. He was outpointed twice, but Valdez scored a rare KO over Briscoe in an elimination match to determine the WBC middleweight champion on May 25, 1974 - it was the only time in 96 fights that Briscoe was ever stopped. The WBC had decided to "strip" Monzon of its version of the middleweight crown, although the rest of the world continued to recognize Monzon as champion.
Briscoe was one of the most feared middleweights of his era. In 2003, he was named to the The Ring
The Ring (magazine)
The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...
Briscoe fought with the Star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
on his boxing trunks in tribute to his managers, first Jimmy Iselin, whose father Phil owned the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and Arnold Weiss
Arnold Weiss
Arnold Hans Weiss was a German-born refugee from Nazi Germany who emigrated to the United States where he became an intelligence officer working for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II and played a key role in the discovery of the last will and testament of Adolf Hitler, dictated...
.