New Q & A I did with Eder Jofre's son, Marcel

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Thanks. Appreciate it. I am looking forward to reading the Caldwell book. It's supposed to arrive Saturday. I'll let you know if it's one worth getting. I felt Gilroy was slightly ahead from the last time I remember watching it. Unfortunately for Caldwell, all the footage available on him is him losing (Jofre, Gilroy, Rudkin). I think Jofre beat the prime out of him because he scored two clear wins over Halmini, who was an excellent fighter.

Jofre's four most significant wins in his eyes were Medel I, Sanchez, Caldwell and Legra. Medel was the one which told him he was invincible.

Stracey has lived in Liverpool for a very long time it appears. Wonder what moved him from London?

I’ve only watched the fight once tbh, it was pretty close, think I had Gilroy edging it as well not 100% sure though.

I’ve probably not watched as much of Jofre as I should have tbf. I’ve seen the Legra fight in full and also the first (I think) Medel fight were he essentially batters him into submission on the ropes. I’ve only really seen clips and highlights of his other fights tbh.

And yeah he lives in Wallasey which is just outside of Liverpool, and has done for at least 20 years to my knowledge. He’s a really approachable guy, I’ve came across him several times, I think he appreciates it when people actually recognise him tbh, nice fella.

[john l]

Those questions are covered in the feature I did on him. I updated it and it will be up next week. https://boxeomundial.com/eder-jofre-the-golden-bantam/

He had been a vegetarian since the age of 20. He played soccer and was apparently quite good at it but his dad really felt he was better at boxing.

Regarding digging up old fights. His son said in Brazil they don't really have that same culture of preserving old things besides Globo TV was the company that had all the fights and archive footage and it burned down at the end of the 80's so everything was lost. Such a shame.

Thanks for the compliments. In the next 12-18 months I have some things planned. I am going to Canastota next June for when Juan Manuel Marquez (and hopefully Rafael) gets inducted. I plan to interview at length Carlos Ortiz and Ruben Olivares if they attend. I'll buy them lunch and/or dinner as I pick their brains. I also want to pin down both Marquez brothers and the next time I go to Puerto Rico on vacation I plan to spend a day talking to Felix Trinidad and Wilfredo Gomez.

The plan is to have features on all of them plus Jofre of course in addition to pieces I am writing on Luis Rodriguez, Jose Napoles, Salvador Sanchez etc; I want to have about 12-15 and eventually put into a book. I'll just have to figure the angle. I don't see much written about the great Latino fighters apart from Duran in the English speaking world so I want their stories out there.

Cool interview. Do you work as a writer?

[chrisJS]

Cool interview. Do you work as a writer?

Not full-time or anything but I am writing a book on Jofre. I put the idea to the family and they really like it and I am working with a couple of journalists in Brazil and through my own contacts have gotten some good Q & A's including Fighting Harada. Harada doesn't have a cell phone or e-mail though so that may be a few weeks process. I've also got Newton Campos, who is 94 years old and covered and followed Eder's entire career.

I feel this is a better and more specific project than a collection of works on various fighters.

A major part of my work is that I have to translate manually page by page 380 pages from two books in Portuguese into English to add more to the stories. Tedious to say the least but I feel the end product will be enjoyable.

[Zaroku]

Thank you very much Chris..greatly appreciated.
Z

[Mario040481]

If I read correctly, it is in June 2020 you plan to be at the induction ceremony with intent to hopefully get some questions in with Olivares? If so, if the chance arises, maybe ask his opinions on the Canelo vs Kovalev fight. I am 99.99% positive I see him sitting at ringside throughout the fight.

[chrisJS]

If I read correctly, it is in June 2020 you plan to be at the induction ceremony with intent to hopefully get some questions in with Olivares? If so, if the chance arises, maybe ask his opinions on the Canelo vs Kovalev fight. I am 99.99% positive I see him sitting at ringside throughout the fight.

Hi Mario, from my understanding Ruben will likely not be at the hall of fame this June. I spoke to the guy who helps work on getting his formal invite with the IBHOF didn’t sound like he’s coming for the next one and he missed the last two.

I’m working with Jofre’s daughter (he lives with her) on getting them a formal invite and will keep those interested in this thread.

[john l]

Not full-time or anything but I am writing a book on Jofre. I put the idea to the family and they really like it and I am working with a couple of journalists in Brazil and through my own contacts have gotten some good Q & A's including Fighting Harada. Harada doesn't have a cell phone or e-mail though so that may be a few weeks process. I've also got Newton Campos, who is 94 years old and covered and followed Eder's entire career.

I feel this is a better and more specific project than a collection of works on various fighters.

A major part of my work is that I have to translate manually page by page 380 pages from two books in Portuguese into English to add more to the stories. Tedious to say the least but I feel the end product will be enjoyable.

That's great man! Let me know when it comes out. Jofre is a great idea I always thought he never got the attention he deserved. Good luck.

[Rusty Tromboni]

I have always been interested in the origin of the "Jofre" surname.

Is it Portugese or French? When I was in High School, out side Pittsburgh, I knew a nice family (really big, lots of cousins) named Giuffre. It's an Italian name. Maybe Jofre is the Portuguese rendering of that?

More information, in general, on Jofre's origins would be nice.

Where his family is from. What brought them to Brazil. I understand he came from a family similar to those traveling the carnival circuit in America 100 years ago. BOTH his parents were fighters, right? It seems he had a unique up-bringing.

Also, how did he get so good? For all the success Brazil has had in producing exceptional Martial artists, the nation isn't known for Boxers. But Jofre might be the best the sport has ever seen. It's almost inexplicable.

[ecto55]

Awesome stuff ChrisJS...just seen your thread and I think what your doing (detailing the experiences directly from some of boxing's greats) is very commendable.

My question to Jofre's son would be about Jofre's "two" careers - i.e. his earlier career vs later comeback. Does his son know about any changes to his boxing style or other technical developments that Jofre had to make (whether due to age, relatively lesser fitness, efficiency etc), or even just comments he heard Jofre Snr make about any differences he felt or had later on?

Fascinating champion...and no worries if you can't get the response...what your doing is awesome stuff.

BTW..you don't have / have had any contact with Antonio Cervantes (Kid Pembele), do you?

[chrisJS]

I have always been interested in the origin of the "Jofre" surname.

Is it Portugese or French? When I was in High School, out side Pittsburgh, I knew a nice family (really big, lots of cousins) named Giuffre. It's an Italian name. Maybe Jofre is the Portuguese rendering of that?

More information, in general, on Jofre's origins would be nice.

Where his family is from. What brought them to Brazil. I understand he came from a family similar to those traveling the carnival circuit in America 100 years ago. BOTH his parents were fighters, right? It seems he had a unique up-bringing.

Also, how did he get so good? For all the success Brazil has had in producing exceptional Martial artists, the nation isn't known for Boxers. But Jofre might be the best the sport has ever seen. It's almost inexplicable.

The name Jofre is Spanish. His dad is from Argentina. His dad is of French,Spanish & Italian descent. His mother is of Italian descent only. His dad moved to Argentina around his mid 20s. He’d had a bad breakup and a friend died in a car accident in Buenos Aires and his brother was already in Brazil so he joined his brother. Jofre has no Portuguese family and even his dads origins are basically 100% European.

The Italian side (Zumbano family) is from Calabria. That side has a lot of boxers and his aunt was Olga Zumbano a very famous wrestler. Eder really looked up to his uncle, Ralph Zumbano he had a decent pro career. His nephew Raphael as you may remember has fought a lot of notable guys like Joshua for example.

Jofre I think is the benefactor of being in such an established boxing/sporting family and he was incredibly hard working and driven. Even when he was like 7-8 years old he’d never miss training and would run every day after school. The other children fought he was nuts.