Bennie Briscoe | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Briscoe in a 1972 cover of Argentina magazine "El Grafico" | |||||||||
| Born | Bennie Briscoe February 8, 1943 | ||||||||
| Died | December 28, 2010 (aged 67) | ||||||||
| Nationality |  American | ||||||||
| Other names | Bad Black Robot | ||||||||
| Statistics | |||||||||
| Weight(s) | Super Middleweight Middleweight Super Welterweight Welterweight | ||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||
| Stance | Orthodox | ||||||||
| Boxing record | |||||||||
| Total fights | 96 | ||||||||
| Wins | 66 | ||||||||
| Wins by KO | 53 | ||||||||
| Losses | 24 | ||||||||
| Draws | 5 | ||||||||
| No contests | 1 | ||||||||
Medal record
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"Bad" Bennie Briscoe (February 8, 1943 – December 28, 2010) was an American professional boxer. A fan favorite for his punching power, he was known as the "quintessential Philadelphia boxer,"[1] and one of the greatest fighters of his era who due to various reasons did not become a world champion.[2]
"Bad" Bennie fought from 1962 to 1982, and retired with a career record of 66 wins (53 by KO) 24 losses and 5 draws. Briscoe was a top-rated middleweight contender during the 1970s, unsuccessfully challenging twice for the undisputed world middleweight title and once for the WBC version. Notable world champions and contenders Briscoe fought included Marvin Hagler, Carlos Monzon, Rodrigo Valdés, Luis Rodríguez, Vicente Rondon, Tony Mundine, Vito Antuofermo, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Emile Griffith, and Cyclone Hart.
Cus D'Amato regarded Briscoe much higher than most of his highly decorated opponents in many respects, particularly for his determination, intimidating posture, constant forward movement, aggressiveness, iron jaw, and ability to absorb punches no matter how solid he was hit, creating an impression of irresistible force to great many of his opponents.[3] Briscoe's relentless walk-forward style earned him a nickname "Black Robot" while fighting abroad (for that reason, French cartoonist Dero portrayed Briscoe as a robot with hammers instead of arms,)[4] forcing even such aggressive fighters as Hagler and Monzon to back-up consistently.[5] He was also sometimes referred to as "the fighting trashman," because he balanced his training early in his career with a day job as a sanitation worker in South Philadelphia.[6]
Briscoe was born in Augusta, Georgia, to a poor family, one of fourteen children. Usually bold Briscoe said that the reason his hair is cut very short is that "When you're one of fourteen children they can't waste too much money on haircuts," and when he used to go to the barbershop, his father would say "Take it all off."[7] Motivated by his family's poverty, at the age of 16, he moved from Augusta, where he was a star athlete in football and track and field, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to live with an aunt and uncle and attended Simon Gratz High School. There, he eventually began training alongside Joe Frazier, hence is his familiar bobbing-and-weaving style.[8]
Briscoe supported his family, and his mother in particular, sending home a bit of each payday.[9] He worked a series of municipal jobs, including as a sewer inlet cleaner and rat control officer. He eventually took a job with the sanitation department, working on a trash route in South Philadelphia as he continued to train as a boxer. A union worker, he was a member of AFSCME District Council 33.[6]
Briscoe had a standout career as an amateur, compiling a record of 70–3.[10] He won the Middle Atlantic AAU title three times, the last in 1962 at Convention Hall in Philadelphia. Though he did not make it to win the United States National Boxing Championships in Pocatello, April 7, 1961, and in Cincinnati, March 31, 1962, losing to H.C. Massey and to Wade Smith respectively. He turned pro shortly thereafter, being coached by Quinzel McCall.
Despite going pro, Briscoe knew that the life of a boxer could be financially unstable and risky—and wanted to retain his union pension plan—so he continued his work on the trash route his entire career.
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.[7]
By the end of 1972, having 56 professional fights under his belt, Briscoe has been floored only three times in his career, twice in the same fight in the 1st round against Rafael Gutierrez, which he ended with a knockout victory in the 2nd round. Among his first-round victories was also a one-punch-knockout over former No. 1 welterweight contender Charlie Scott, a further proof of his outstanding punching power.[7]
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 on the downside of his career.
Bennie also fought Rodrigo Valdes 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 - it was the only time in 96 fights that Briscoe was ever stopped. 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.
In March 1981, neurosurgeon Dr. Fred Sonstein sought to use CAT scans in an attempt to track the degeneration of boxers' cognitive functions after seeing the decline of Briscoe's speech abilities.[11]
Briscoe was one of the most feared middleweights of his era. In 2003, he was named in The Ring's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.[12] His final record was 66-24-5 with 53 knockouts and one no contest.
Briscoe fought with the Star of David on his boxing trunks in tribute to his managers, first Jimmy Iselin, whose father Phil owned the New York Jets, and Arnold M. Weiss.
Bennie Briscoe died on December 28, 2010.[1]
