Don Jordan: Forgotten and bizarre welterweight champion

[dempseyfire]

http://www.boxinginsider.com/headlines/ ... on-jordan/

Anyone who has ever read Heller's interview of Jordan in "In This Corner" can see the guy had some psychological issues . . if you haven't read it you should, although it's a disturbing read.

I highly doubt his wins over Akins were on the level. Akins, a known "mob fighter" with incredible skills and a usual high energy style, fought the (boring) 15 round match with Jordan like he was sleep-walking. Jordan was also known to be in cahoots with the underworld and famously the exposure of his dealings helped purge mob influence from boxing. But at the same time, Jordan did have some talent and was a good boxer.

How good do you think he really was?

[klompton]

Don Jordan wasnt shit. His record illustrates exactly what kind of fighter he was. The guy was nothing special at all until he hooked up with the mob. Then suddenly he goes undefeated and wins the title in several shady fights, then literally the instant that his mob connections are revealed and the spotlight is on them preventing them from working their magic with his fights the guy cant win to save his life. I guess he was just totally shot at the age of 25. Whatever. He was a totally manufactured mob fighter. Doesnt surprise me that someone like Douche who doesnt know his ass from his elbow would think Jordan was a good fighter.

[dempseyfire]

Don Jordan wasnt poo. His record illustrates exactly what kind of fighter he was. The guy was nothing special at all until he hooked up with the mob. Then suddenly he goes undefeated and wins the title in several shady fights, then literally the instant that his mob connections are revealed and the spotlight is on them preventing them from working their magic with his fights the guy cant win to save his life. I guess he was just totally shot at the age of 25. Whatever. He was a totally manufactured mob fighter. Doesnt surprise me that someone like Douche who doesnt know his ass from his elbow would think Jordan was a good fighter.

To push back some Klomp, Jordan couldn't have been complete crap . . he was an accomplished amateur and early in his career when he was hit and miss he did beat Salas, Demarco, and Joe Miceli. The fights with Ortega were also very close and I doubt Gaspar was in on any fix. At the same time I don't think he would've won the title if he'd fought Akins square and his performances while champion were horrid. But given his hard drinking, hard smoking, fast women ways, I don't think his mid-20s decline is solely "the mob withdrew their backing" . . I have a hard time envisioning such an undisciplined fighter ever having lasting success.

[palooka]

Wasn't he a hit man when he was a young man?

[Jaywheel]

Don 'Geronimo' Jordan

Was a pretty good fighter when he got started. He was a very popular fighter at Legion Stadium in Hollywood, California
as well as a fan favorite at The Olympic in the early 1950's.

He was good enough to score '2' wins over 'tough' Lauro Salas in early-1955 for the California State Lightweight Title.

C'mon Klompton, stick to 'hawking' books.

Give 'Geronimo' his due. By {Age; 20 years, 9 months} he was 20-2-0, and had only lost to '2' good fighters in Andy Escobar
and Dickie Wong.

Hey Klompton, for a fighter who was 'supposedly' no good, he sure got a lot of ink in 1955.

A LOT of ink that is indeed.

[dempseyfire]

Wasn't he a hit man when he was a young man?

He claims in the Keller interview he was a 10 year old assassin growing up in the Dominican Republic, killing dozens of people and even burning someone alive. Trouble is he was born and raised in California, it was all the product of his troubled, alcoholic mind; although he was sent to youth reformatories as a kid.

[palooka]

Wasn't he a hit man when he was a young man?

He claims in the Keller interview he was a 10 year old assassin growing up in the Dominican Republic, killing dozens of people and even burning someone alive. Trouble is he was born and raised in California, it was all the product of his troubled, alcoholic mind; although he was sent to youth reformatories as a kid.

Thanks I remember reading 'In This Corner' as a youth and took it all at face value; I'm pleased he had imagined it all though he must have been a mess to think it up.

[klompton]

Those people came to see Art Aragon (who beat Jordan by the way) not Jordan. Aragorn was the one with the following. Shit, even the win over Salas, which is being lauded came against a guy who was at least 3 years past his prime and who had lost 1/3 of his fights. Big deal. Same with Miceli and DeMarco, his two biggest wins that probably werent fixed: DeMarco had won 2 of his last 4 fights and after Jordan won only 3 of his next 14. Miceli would end his career having lost nearly half of his fights. He could turn in a good performance but he wasnt a world beater and could be counted on to lose as many as he won. By the time he fought Jordan, 4 years after his best performances, he was losing consistently, indeed he was losing as many as he won. Its laughable that anyone would characterize Wong and Escobar as "pretty good" in order to bolster your weak argument. They were young, unproven clubfighters at that point. Each had literally just graduated to 10 rounders. Its one thing to characterize those losses as early career growing pains, which normally I would agree with, but to try to paint those fighters as something they werent just to argue for arguments sake, which the resident troll does with great vigor, is ridiculous. Wong won only two more fights after defeating Jordan. Escobar only fought 8 more times, losing half of those. As I said, take a look at Jordan's record and you will see his unbeaten streak perfectly coincides with his contract being taken over by the mob. His major losing streaks just so happen to coincide perfectly with Carbo and Palermo being outed as his managers and their withdrawal of support to him. People can say "I dont think Ortega would have participated in a fix but even Ortega's biographer calls into question those fights and even Jordan, who had barely cracked the rankings at that point and did so with some pretty tepid, unimpressive wins. Why all of a sudden was he even getting these big fights? Gee I wonder. Its one thing to blame booze for his problems but this guy was a drunk and a smoker BEFORE, DURING, and after his "best" years. Duce loves to characterize guys like Jordan and Thad Spencer as something they werent but some guys just arent cut from the same cloth as champions. Jordan wasnt he just had help from the mob to shoehorn him into that category. Spencer didnt and class eventually told. Its funny that Jordan is being characterized now as this popular fighter who was getting all this ink. Go back and read about his career as a contender and champion and see what people REALLY thought of him. Im talking about real journalists, not guys like Nat Fleischer (and the other magazine editors who concerned about selling to their readership) who sat on the fence and hid his head in the sand while the mob influencing fights and fighters with ridiculous regularity. The guy was a joke and considered one of the most mobbed up fighters ever at that point.

[Chuck1052]

It is true that the boxing fans booed Art Aragon in Los Angeles during his career, but what does that have to do with his drawing card ability? Art still ranks as one of the greatest boxing gate attractions ever in the Los Angeles area along with Mexican Joe Rivers, Bert Colima, Ace Hudkins, Enrique Bolanos, Ruben Olivares and Pipino Cuevas. Don Jordan wasn't close to being in the same league as Art in terms of being a drawing card.

- Chuck Johnston

[Giancarlo]

It is true that the boxing fans booed Art Aragon in Los Angeles during his career, but what does that have to do with his drawing card ability? Art still ranks as one of the greatest boxing gate attractions ever in the Los Angeles area along with Mexican Joe Rivers, Bert Colima, Ace Hudkins, Enrique Bolanos, Ruben Olivares and Pipino Cuevas. Don Jordan wasn't close to being in the same league as Art in terms of being a drawing card.

- Chuck Johnston

Il Duce never lets facts interfere with his fantasies Chuck.

[Jaclem]

. ..saw some of his tv fights...maybe all of them. never impressed me.
i have the heller book and i get it out from time to time. can't believe a word jordan says. the guy was nuts.

[Chuck1052]

Was Don Jordan close to being in the class of Kid Gavilan, Billy Graham, Carmen Basilio and a number of other top welterweights of the 1950s. Don't make me laugh!

I can't understand why Peter Heller included the interview with Don Jordan in his book, In This Corner. It is hard to think of an interview which contained more outrageous lies.

- Chuck Johnston

[Caractacus]

CAN'T REMEMBER IF THIS WAS THE ONE THO.

[Expug]

Thanks for the bringing it back. I read about him years ago. Then, I recently read, as someone mentioned here, that the guy was from California. He definitely had issues.

[Caractacus]

I think it was Il Duece who started up this thread originally,
but all his post were 'vapourized"* around this time 10 years ago.
(* unless he was quoted by another poster)

[Caractacus]

I remember reading (somewhere) where he said he was from Dominican Republic and was one of 19 off-spring
and that before he settled in California he was a professional hit-man,
and had killed 30 people in one month
( mainly using a blow-pipe and poison darts.)

[goose 5]

When Jordan stated that French is the language of the Dominican Republic, I knew he was lying about growing up there.

[Caractacus]

I remember reading an interview with Eddie Futch,
and he said he found Jordan in Mexico City (on the verge of starving)
brought him up to the USA and in 20 months had him fighting for the title.
After two title defenses, he just walked away from Futch
( Futch couldn't even mention his name in the interview he was so bitter about it)

[Caractacus]

In the same book, Jackie McCoy said he had trained Don Jordan for a time,
but said Jordan was a 'chain-smoker" and drank "like a fish" too during training.