Bennie Briscoe
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"Bad" Bennie Briscoe (born August 2, 1943) was the prototypical Philadelphia fighter. Bad Bennie fought from 1962 to 1982, and retired with a career record of 66 wins (55 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.
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[edit] Amateur career
Briscoe had a standout career as an amateur, compiling a record of 70-3 (Source: The Ring, Sept 1963).
[edit] Professional career
Bad Bennie fought Middleweight champions Marvin Hagler, Vito Antuofermo, Rodrigo Valdez, Emile Griffith and Carlos Monzon. He also fought and defeated future light-heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, and dropped a decision to former welterweight champion Luis Rodriguez.
Bad 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.
Bad 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. 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. He was named to the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
[edit] Trivia
- Briscoe always wore a Jewish Star of David on his boxing trunks. Boxing magazines and news reports in the early 1970s, said he was practicing the Jewish faith. However, in interviews with the media, Briscoe stated that, while he found the Star of David a powerful symbol, he was a Baptist.
