Boxing HOFer Eder Jofre Dies at Age 86; Former Bantamweight, Featherweight Champion

Eder Jofre, a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, died Sunday in Brazil at the age of 86.

According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, Jofre had "a lengthy illness." An amateur tournament was held by WBC in Brazil named in Jofre's honor featuring fighters from Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador and Mexico, and he died "several hours following its completion."

Arguably the greatest Brazilian boxer ever, Jofre held championship titles at both bantamweight and featherweight. In 2003, The Ring magazine ranked him No. 85 among the 100 greatest punchers of all time.

Jofre had a career record of 72-2-4 with 50 KOs. His only two losses came against Fighting Harada in WBA and WBC bantamweight title fights. After his second loss to Harada in 1966, Jofre briefly retired at the age of 30 with a record of 47-2-4.

After three years away from the sport, Jofre returned as a featherweight. He put together a run of 14 consecutive wins to earn a title fight against José Legrá in 1973, which he won by majority decision to become the lineal and WBC featherweight champion.

However, Jofre was stripped of his featherweight title one year later. He continued his career, winning every fight before he retired in 1976.

"He was a classic boxer, but he had power. His technique was very good, and he was aggressive, so he was always fun to watch," WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán told Iole. "He could take a punch, too, and was just tremendous. He was a great boxer and a great guy. This is a big loss."

After his retirement, Jofre served as an alderman for 16 years in Brazil. In 2019, he was honored by the WBC at its convention in Cancún, Mexico.

"When he was out in the public, he would start sparring people in a funny kind of way and was always happy and loved to be around boxing people and boxing fans," Sulaimán said.