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

[Chrismart]

I've only just come across this thread. Really good read..thanks for posting.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Could you ask him why he didn't move to Featherweight sooner?

I really don't think he lost the Harada fights. I think they were close. Harada definitely proved an elite fighter. But if you know Boxing, you know Jofre won. Probably any other Featherweight would have been sparked. Jofre, against anyone else, would have finished the fight or won more decisively, despite the weight cut.

But is that his take on it? I doubt he had any real obstacle to winning the Featherweight crown. It's interesting that he didn't pursue the second belt sooner. I would like his take.

Also, who does he see as the second and third best Bantamweights?

[chrisJS]

Could you ask him why he didn't move to Featherweight sooner?

I really don't think he lost the Harada fights. I think they were close. Harada definitely proved an elite fighter. But if you know Boxing, you know Jofre won. Probably any other Featherweight would have been sparked. Jofre, against anyone else, would have finished the fight or won more decisively, despite the weight cut.

But is that his take on it? I doubt he had any real obstacle to winning the Featherweight crown. It's interesting that he didn't pursue the second belt sooner. I would like his take.

Also, who does he see as the second and third best Bantamweights?

I will ask him these questions for you. Regarding the move to Featherweight you have to remember it wasn’t so easy to arrange such a match without vacating the title first so despite the struggle to make weight it perhaps didn’t make financial sense to drop the title and work his way up to a title again whilst he was getting good offers for fights in Japan and a proposal for one in England. I’ve read in old archives about him potentially going to fight Sugar Ramos but his son didn’t know a great deal about that.

I’ll post the responses in this thread.

Edit:

I asked his son the questions. He said that there weren’t any specific fighters that he singled out as being the greatest bantamweights but that he’s always had admiration for the Japanese and Mexican fighters in that category. I’m assuming he’s probably alluding to Harada, Zarate and Olivares. He did say though that he felt Medel was the best overall fighter he faced. The fighters he felt were the greatest and that he admired most were Robinson and Ali.

Regarding the Featherweight move its pretty much what I assumed. He was making good money and had honor in defending his title though he was hurting to make weight. When he came back he simply couldn’t make bantamweight any more.

[chrisJS]

Just an update folks. I am working towards writing a book on Eder Jofre. I plan to have it released by Spring 2021.

I have a lot of information and transcripts from previous interviews and a lot of clippings from Brazil which I've put into English. His son is sending me two books written on him (I believe one is autobiographical and the other more a fight by fight focus) in 1962 & 1976 which account for about 400 pages. They are not digital so I have to manually translate every page to obtain as much information as possible. I am also working on archival footage from many of his pre-world championship days plus eye witness accounts from his featherweight days. I am also working on speaking to as many former opponents as possible and people who knew former opponents. It's possible I speak to Fighting Harada in a few weeks. I am currently talking with the son of Eloy Sanchez. Unfortunately Jose Legra is not doing so well so it's very difficult to get him down though I have a little content on his views and I believe Octavio Gomez passed away despite it not being updated on boxrec. I received confirmation that Eloy Sanchez just passed away last year. I would love some contact with family members of Johnny Caldwell if possible. There are not many former opponents still with us today.

Luckily through his son who's really endorsed the idea of the book I've gotten some excellent contacts in Brazil so that should help.

I want to try to get to 100,000 words and then trim down so the reader stays entertained. The main principal focuses are to show him as a great fighter (one of the best ever pound for pound), a great example to his craft, the type of person and family man he was and what he means to Brazil and vice-versa.

There's a lot more too but just thought I'd give an update for those interested.

[QueensburyRules]

- -Ace update Chris.

I hope Eder is able to get his hands on your book while he's still cognizant.

[chrisJS]

- -Ace update Chris.

I hope Eder is able to get his hands on your book while he's still cognizant.

He’ll be one of the first people to get it. It will also be translated into Portuguese but unfortunately he won’t be able to read it due to his condition. He’s got a very fit body but mentally he’s slowed down considerably.

As a side note, we are working to try and get him a formal invite as a guest for IBHOF weekend in June.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

https://mobile.twitter.com/boxingkin...743937?lang=en

Had to dig this out. Great to see despite his problems he still has such love and passion for the sport.

Legend...

[chrisJS]

https://mobile.twitter.com/boxingkin...743937?lang=en

Had to dig this out. Great to see despite his problems he still has such love and passion for the sport.

Legend...

He still works out 2-3 times per week and eats healthy. His memory is a bit fuzzy and needs to be reminded of things and his speech has gone very soft and slow but his reflexes and mind when it comes to boxing are still sharp. I guess he was just so perfect a fighter and trainer for so long (even with the gloves on up until 5-6 years ago) that it’s instinctive to him.

As a side I stumbled across a book on the rivalry between Johnny Caldwell and Freddie Gilroy. I ordered off amazon prime for $5 brand new. 250 pages. Hoping to get more and more information on Caldwell. I’ll have a nice chapter on that fight as it’s one of the four which Eder claims to be his most significant and the story behind it is good too.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

He still works out 2-3 times per week and eats healthy. His memory is a bit fuzzy and needs to be reminded of things and his speech has gone very soft and slow but his reflexes and mind when it comes to boxing are still sharp. I guess he was just so perfect a fighter and trainer for so long (even with the gloves on up until 5-6 years ago) that it’s instinctive to him.

As a side I stumbled across a book on the rivalry between Johnny Caldwell and Freddie Gilroy. I ordered off amazon prime for $5 brand new. 250 pages. Hoping to get more and more information on Caldwell. I’ll have a nice chapter on that fight as it’s one of the four which Eder claims to be his most significant and the story behind it is good too.

Interesting... I would have always thought it would’ve been Legra. Great to see him still showing off the moves. Good luck with book anyway man, I’ll be one of the first to check it out once you’ve finished it.

Caldwell and Gilroy was a classic friends turned enemies and didn’t the media used it to reflect the social divides in Belfast at the time or something along the lines of that? Can’t remember exactly but I know there was some sort of socio-political involvement within that fight. Caldwell is convinced he was ahead at the time of the cut as well.

Funny enough, I was once speaking to John H Stracey who lives not far from me, and he’s still bitter about his fight with Dave Boy Green getting stopped on a cut, he said the referee (can’t remember his name) told him after the fight “I had you well in front John” to which he replied “why the f*** did you stop it then?”.

[chrisJS]

Interesting... I would have always thought it would’ve been Legra. Great to see him still showing off the moves. Good luck with book anyway man, I’ll be one of the first to check it out once you’ve finished it.

Caldwell and Gilroy was a classic friends turned enemies and didn’t the media used it to reflect the social divides in Belfast at the time or something along the lines of that? Can’t remember exactly but I know there was some sort of socio-political involvement within that fight. Caldwell is convinced he was ahead at the time of the cut as well.

Funny enough, I was once speaking to John H Stracey who lives not far from me, and he’s still bitter about his fight with Dave Boy Green getting stopped on a cut, he said the referee (can’t remember his name) told him after the fight “I had you well in front John” to which he replied “why the f*** did you stop it then?”.

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?