Bennie Briscoe

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. His final record was 66-24-5 with 53 knockouts and one no contest.

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.

Bennie also fought Rodrigo Valdez 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.

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 until 1973.

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, which he ended with a knockout victory in the 2nd round. Among his first-round victories was also a one-punch-knockout, a further proof of his outstanding punching power.

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.

"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 for the WBC and WBA world titles on three occasions. Notable former champions and contenders Brisoce fought included Marvin Hagler, Carlos Monzon, Rodrigo Valdéz, Luis Rodríguez, Vicente Rondon, Tony Mundine, Vito Antuofermo, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Emile Griffith, and Vinnie Curto.

Briscoe had a standout career as an amateur, compiling a record of 70–3. 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.

"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," and one of the greatest fighters of his era who due to various reasons did not become a world champion.