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Jose Torres was a man who went full circle in the boxing world, from amateur boxer, 1956 Olympic Light Middleweight Silver Medallist, Puerto Rican Middleweight Champion, WBA and WBC Light Heavyweight Champion, New York State Athletic Commission Chairman and WBO President.
He was also an author of two top selling biographies, “Sting Like a Bee: The Muhammad Ali Story” and “Fire and Fear: The inside Story of Mike Tyson” and a 1997 Hall of Fame inductee as well as an all around goodwill ambassador of the sport.
Torres accomplished so much in boxing that his accomplishments almost seem embellished.
It is not often we can actually look back at an athlete and say that during their duration in the sport they did nothing but continually improve its standards, representing the sport as a whole to the fullest and striving constantly to make sure it was viewed in the most positive of images.
Jose Torres was one of those athletes.
It was in 1964 when Jose’s pro career really began to soar as he scored a first round KO victory over former middleweight champion Bobo Olsen, earning a title shot with the great Willie Pastrano just four months later.
In that contest, Torres again shined when he knocked Pastrano down in the sixth round, continuing his onslaught until referee Johnny Bianco was forced to stop the bout at the end of the ninth, making Torres the new light heavyweight champion.
It was a year and a half later that Torres again shined in the spotlight when he defended his title against highly respected Eddie Cotton. The bout showed exactly what Torres was made of as champion when he retained his title via unanimous decision in what was named Fight of the Year in 1966.
Later in the year Torres lost his light heavyweight titles to Dick Tiger by unanimous decision and lost the rematch by split decision six months later.
Torres fought two more times before hanging up his gloves in 1969 with a record of 41-3-1 (29).
I was fortunate enough to meet Jose on a few occasions. Each time he was a complete gentleman and class act. I was even fortunate enough to catch his ear once and get his opinion on boxers needing an organized union
Sadly, Jose suffered a fatal heart attack on Monday January 19, 2009 at his home in Ponce, Puerto Rico. His family will put him to rest on Thursday January 22, 2009 in his home city of Ponce.
He will be sorely missed.
