Ring Ten Bells For Bennie Briscoe, Helen Dundee, Bossman

By Michael Marley

Sad news out of Philadelphia as to the death of former middleweight contender Bad Bennie Briscoe.

The cliché about Briscoe is that he was one of the best boxers ever to not win a world title.

Drop the “world” part, really, because Briscoe held a title and that was that of a consummate professional, a boxer who asked no quarter, gave none and who could box and punch.

In a spoiled boxing world, in which fighters and their handlers hand pick opponents and boxers refuse to go to another fighter's city or country for a fight, Briscoe would have never fit in.

Briscoe was “Old School” in all the positive senses of the label.

Briscoe wasn't called “Bad” for nothing as he was one of the most reliable 160 pounders in a 20 year campaign as a professional.

I don't say that Briscoe would have beaten his hometown's current ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins but I am of the considered opinion that they would have gone the distance and the scoring would have been close.

Don't judge Briscoe by his 66-24-5 record.

You have look at his pro log line by line, name by name and you will learn that he was a great example of an era when fighters were not coddled, when they fought whoever a manager and/or a promoter put in front of them and also when they fought a lot more often than today's breed.

Always a fistic mecca, Phillly once boasted of having not only Briscoe as a premier middleweight but also Eugene “Cyclone” Hart, Bobby "Boogaloo" Watts and Willie “The Worm” Monroe.

In today's Alphabet Groups Gone Wild scene, all three would have a world title belt.

Philadelphia was such a great fight town, with such top talent, that an up and coming kid out the Boston arena, name of Marvelous Marvin Hagler, traveled there. Hagler knew it was a proving ground.

Briscoe's greatest nights in the ring, it could be argued were his losses to two superior talents, all-time great Carlos Monzon and Colombia's sadly underrated Rordigo Valdes. Valdes beat back Briscoe thrice.

Other well-known foes Brisco crossed gloves with included Luis Rodriguez, Philly's Stanley “Kitten” Hayward and Philly's Charley Scott, Billy “Dynamite” Douglas, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Vito Antuofermo, David Love and Georgie Benton.

Briscoe fought too long and lost eight of his last 14 bouts, many against guys who could not have carried his gym gear earlier.

From 1962 to 1982, Briscoe fought everyone they asked him to fight.

Briscoe was 67 years old.

He was the consummate professional.

HELEN DUNDEE: They looked like an Odd Couple, what with Helen Bolton being a model and a self-professed “Southern belle” out of North Carolina and pug-nosed Angelo Dundee coming right out of the mean streets of South Philadelphia.

Mrs. Dundee lived to celebrate her 59th wedding anniversary and her Hall Of Fame trainer husband liked to call her “my toughest fighter.”

She died at age 85 in Clearwater, Fl., and services will be held there.

Over the years, I met Angelo's beloved wife many times. She was a gracious lady and a “knockout beauty” in her day.

Helen will have plenty to talk about when she encounters Chris Dundee, Lorraine Chargin and other familiar faces.

Condolences to Angelo and his family.

EDDIE BOSSMAN JONES: Clever, slick, a cutie pie fighter but also one who bang gloves on a daily basis with his era's best light heavyweights and heavyweights.

I knew Bossman and I knew he did some hard prison time. He was the quintessential sparring partner as evidenced by his employment with guys named Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Jerry uarry and Ken Norton among others.

Jones died last Aug. 7 and I want to thank his contemporary Lonnie Magic Man Bennett for calling me to offer some kind words of remembrance about the Bossman.

Here's a Jones summary from Johnny Bos by way of IBRO's website:

Eddie “Bossman” Jones, passed away on Saturday August 7, 2010 of natural causes. Jones, a rugged, aggressive light-heavyweight from California, took on the best in his division for over a decade. It is hard to depict how deep the light-heavyweight ranks were before other weights decimated the lines in recent years, but a quick glance at Eddie’s record does the job. Jones turned pro in 1965, had his nose spread in early fights against Harold Johnson, Jimmy Dupree and Henry Hank, tightened up his defense and worked his way to a shot at the WBA title held by Venezuela’s Vicente Rondon, whom he took the full 15 rounds in Caracas in 1971, before establishing himself as one of the toughest, cutest men around against the likes of Victor Galindez, Jesse Burnett, Len Hutchins, Tom Bethea, Andy Kendall, Rudiger Schmidtke and Tom Bogs, the latter two in Europe. Eddie was forced on the road because he couldn’t get a fight in California. Ex-pro Rick Farris describes him as “too good for his own good - it’s as if Eddie had no home.” As his career relented in the mid-1970s, his obvious assets were preyed upon by the leading heavyweights of the day, all basking in a golden era, as Jerry Quarry, Ken Norton and George Foreman used him extensively in the gym. Eddie is perhaps best known as one of Muhammad Ali’s spar mates for the “Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire in 1974, along with a young Larry Holmes and the much-avoided Roy Williams. When they say Ali enjoyed the greatest sparring imaginable for Foreman, they were not kidding. Jones played his part in an unforgettable win for Ali, and an unforgettable night for boxing. Reported by Johnny Bos from an internet posting.