Bennie Briscoe: Carlos Monzon, Nino Valdes and More – Part I
By Peter Silkov
Looking back from where we are today in boxing, with its multiple ‘world titles’ infecting every weight division, it is hard to imagine a time when there was just one world champion at each weight, and the contenders actually fought each other regularly, with the prize being a possible shot at the champion. This was the way it was for Bennie Briscoe, back in the 1960s and 70s, when he was one of the ‘baddest’ contenders for the World middleweight title, at a time when the 160-pound division was made up of a pretty ‘bad‘ bunch.
Briscoe came out of Philadelphia, ‘the city of brotherly love,’ which is renowned for producing some of the toughest, most aggressive, and exciting fighters, ever seen within the square ring. Bennie was no exception, in fact, he was and is still seen by many as a prime example of what a Philadelphia fighter should be, tough and aggressive, relentless, with a good punch, and not afraid to take some, in order to land some, but intent on landing more, far more. Bennie’s nickname was ‘Bad’ and long before Mike Tyson; Bennie Briscoe fought every fight with bad intentions. Bennie was no fancy-Dan, but he had good technique, the kind of technique that many of today’s sluggers sadly lack. He had a hard, accurate jab that could shock and shake an opponent. However, it was his body punches that really wrecked a man. Briscoe’s body attack was one of the prime reasons why he was so ’bad.’
Briscoe turned professional in 1962, at the age of 19, after an amateur career, which saw him go 70-3. Fighting in legendary Philadelphia halls and arenas such as the Blue Horizon, The Convention Centre, and the Philadelphia Arena, Briscoe soon built up a following with his exciting and aggressive style, and it wasn’t long before he was mixing it with some of Philadelphia’s finest and most dangerous; having started his career as a Welterweight. Briscoe soon matured into a middleweight and by the mid-1960’s “Bad Bennie” was fighting and beating fellow Philadelphia middleweight warriors, such as Charley Scott, Percy Manning, George Benton, and building a reputation that would become a legend. In May 1967, Briscoe travelled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he faced another young contender, Carlos Monzon. The two men fought an evenly matched contest, which was judged a draw after 10 rounds. For Briscoe, the draw away from home, against such an opponent who was fighting in front of his own people, was as good as a win. Monzon would go on to win the World middleweight championship and become one of the greatest champions the division has ever seen. Indeed, Monzon’s record for the rest of his career, after his first fight with Briscoe, would be 49-0-3.
Briscoe’s assault upon his fellow 160-pound contenders was relentless in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was like a rampaging freight train running through the division. There was seldom a soft touch handed to Bennie from his management, but he usually won, and those he lost, such as decisions to Vincent Rondon, Juarez De Lima, and Joe Shaw, were avenged in rematches. A fighter had to be something really special to beat Bennie twice in a row, and the only men to manage this with Briscoe throughout his career, were Luis Rodriguez and Rodrigo Valdes. Briscoe fought Rodriguez twice in the late 1960’s and found the brilliant Cuban (who sadly is seldom talked about today) simply too fast and slippery.
Despite his success, and his regularity in the Ring magazine’s top ten, (when that magazine’s ratings actually counted for something) it took Briscoe 10 years of fighting to get his first world title shot. On November 11, 1972, he went back to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to face Carlos Monzon again, this time with the World middleweight championship at stake; Monzon took the title from Nino Benvenuti the previous year. Briscoe gave Monzon one of his toughest nights as champion, shaking him up in the 9th round, and always coming forward and trying to pressure the champion. After 15 rounds of intense action, Monzon retained his title on points. It was to be the theme of Briscoe’s career concerning world titles, being so near, yet so far of his goal of becoming a world champion.
Following his unsuccessful world title bid, in 1973, Bad Bennie went back to doing what he did best, beating up on the rest of the middleweight contenders. On March 26, 1973, Briscoe stopped Art Hernandez in 3 rounds, to win the NABF middleweight title. After successfully defending his title against Billy Douglas three months later, with an 8th round stoppage, Briscoe lost the title on September 1st, when he was out- pointed by the hugely talented Columbian, Rodrigo Valdes. It was the first of three fights that Briscoe and Valdes would engage in together, each one of them fast-paced duels.
Eight months after their first meeting, Briscoe and Valdes fought again, this time for the WBC world middleweight title at stake. The WBC chose to strip Monzon of recognition as world champion, due to him declining to fight Valdes when they ordered him to fight. This second meeting would be the best fight between Briscoe and Valdes. It was a skilful slugfest, as both men went after each other with everything they had, each man taking turns in hurting the other, as the battle ebbed and flowed at a blistering pace. However, Valdes’ counterpunching and flashy combinations seemed to be edging things, as Briscoe took heavy punishment during his continual march forward. In the 7th round, Valdes seemed to have tired and Briscoe went after him as he lay on the ropes, only to be caught by a tremendous left hook from Valdes, and then a follow up combination that sent Bad Bennie crashing down to the canvas. Although Briscoe beat the count, he was out on his feet, and the referee waved off the action, giving Briscoe the first and only inside the distance defeat of his career.
Come back tomorrow for Part II of the Bennie Briscoe Story.