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Eder Jofre (born March 26, 1936), is a
Brazil|Brazilian former Boxing|boxer, whom many
consider to be the best Brazilian boxer of all
time.

A native of Sao Paulo, Jofre, whose nicknames were
"The Golden Bantam" and "Jofrinho", made his
professional debut on
March 23, 1957, beating Raul Lopez by knockout in
five rounds. He had a total of twelve fights in
1957, including two each against Lopez, Osvaldo
Perez and Ernesto Miranda (boxer)|Ernesto Miranda,
against whom Jofre sustained his first two record
stains: two ten round draws (ties).

He began 1958 by winning four more fights, and
then, on May 14 of that year, he had his first
fight abroad, drawing in ten rounds against Ruben
Caceres in Montevideo, Uruguay. On November 14,
Jose Smecca became the first and only man to drop
Jofre in his career; Jofre got up from a first
round knockdown to knock Smecca out in seven
rounds.

Jofre won eight fights in 1959, including one
against two time world title challenger Leo
Espinoza, and a seventh round knockout in a
rematch with Caceres. 

On February 19, 1960, he fought Ernesto Miranda
for the third time, this time with the South
American Bantamweight title on the line. Jofre
outpointed Miranda over fifteen rounds to win his
first title as a professional. Jofre retained the
title with a knockout in three rounds in a fourth
fight with Miranda, and, after one more win, he
made his United States|American debut, defeating
top ranked challenger Jose Medel by knockout in
ten on August 16 at Los Angeles, California|Los
Angeles. Next, he defeated the power punching
Ricardo Moreno (later ranked among boxing's all
time best punchers by Ring Magazine), by a
knockout in six.

On November 18 of that year, Jofre became world
champion, when he knocked out the World Boxing
Association|WBA world Bantamweight champion Eloy
Sanchez in six rounds, at Los Angeles. 

Jofre proved to be a busy world champion, fighting
top notch fighters, both in title engagements and
in non title fights. From 1960 to 1965, he
retained his title against Piero Rollo, Ramon
Arias (in Caracas, Venezuela), Johnny Caldwell,
Herman Marques, Jose Medel, Katsuyoshi Aoki (in
Tokyo), Johnny Jamito (in Manila), and Bernardo
Caraballo (in Bogotá, Colombia).

In addition, he defeated such fighters as Billy
Peacock, Sadao Yaoita and Fernando Soto in non
title bouts. After the fight with Aoki, Jofre was
also recognized as world Bantamweight champion by
the World Boxing Council|WBC, therefore, becoming
the undisputed world champion. 

Up until his defense against Caraballo, Jofre had
the record for the longest undefeated run in
boxing history since the start of a career. This
record would shortly after be broken by Nino
Benvenuti and, much later on, by Julio Cesar
Chavez. 

On May 17, 1965., his streak as an undefeated
fighter was broken when he lost to "Fighting
Harada" by a fifteen round split decision in
Nagoya, Japan, to lose the world Bantamweight
title. Harada was the only fighter ever to defeat
Jofre as a professional. 

After losing to Harada by unanimous decision at a
rematch held in Tokyo on June 1, 1966, Jofre
retired.

In 1969, he made a comeback, beating Rudy Corona
by a knockout in six on August 26. After winning
thirteen fights in a row, he challenged for a
world title once again: on May 21, 1973, he fought
Jose Legra for the WBC world Featherweight title,
in Brasilia. Jofre became a two division world
champion by defeating Legra with a fifteen round
unanimous decision.

Despite having won his second world title, Jofre
realized he was nearing the end of the road as far
as his boxing career was concerned. He did defeat
Frankie Crawford in a non title affair and
defended his world Featherweight title against
fellow former world Bantamweight champion, Vicente
Saldivar of Mexico, in a "super fight" held at
Salvador. He knocked Saldivar out in four rounds.

After a string of fights against lesser opponents,
he retired, having beaten "Octavio Famoso Gomez"
by a knockout in six on October 8 of 1976.

Jofre has since dedicated himself to being a
boxing trainer in Brazil. He also owns businesses
such as List of supermarkets|supermarkets and
others.

He had a record of 72 wins, 2 losses and 4 draws
as a professional boxer, with his 52 knockout wins
making him a member of the exclusive group of
boxers that has won 50 or more fights by knockout.

He and "Fighting Harada" are both members of the
International Boxing Hall of Fame.