José Torres

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameJosé Louis•Torres
Used nameJosé•Torres
Nick/petnamesChegui
Born3 May 1936 in Playa Ponce, Puerto Rico (PUR)
Died19 January 2009 in Ponce, Puerto Rico (PUR)
Measurements178 cm / 71 kg
AffiliationsUS Army, (USA)
NOC United States
Medals OG
Gold 0
Silver 1
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

José Torres fought in the 1956 Olympics while he was serving in the Army. His only amateur titles had come in Army and Inter-Service championships, several of which he had won. But he was a fine boxer and it was ill fortune that he was in the same class in the Olympics as the Hungarian, László Papp. Papp defeated Torres in the finals for his third consecutive Olympic boxing title. While in the Army Torres fought for two more years as an amateur and managed to win the 1958 AAU championship. He then turned professional. He had a good career as a pro, climaxed when he won the light-heavyweight world title in 1965 by KO’ing Willie Pastrano in nine rounds. Torres defended the title four times before losing a 15-round decision to Dick Tiger in December 1966. His professional career record was 41-3-1 with 29 knockouts, and included wins over Tom McNeeley, Don Fullmer, and Bobo Olson. After retiring from boxing, Torres co-authored one of the best biographies of Muhammad Ali. He was later chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission and president of the World Boxing Organization from 1993-95. He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1956 Summer Olympics Boxing USA José Torres
Light-Middleweight, Men (Olympic) 2 Silver

Special Notes