Don Jordan (June 22, 1934 – February 13, 1997) was an American boxer born in Los Angeles, California and was the Undisputed Welterweight Champion of the World from 1958 to 1960. His nickname was ‘Geronimo’. He was of Mexican and African American descent.

Career Born 22 June 1934 in Los Angeles, Jordan’s brief spell as an amateur shows that he began boxing as a Middleweight and – unusually – worked his way down to Welterweight as a professional. His amateur career spanned just fifteen contests, of which he lost only one.

Jordan fought professionally for the first time in April, 1953. Standing 5 feet 9 inches and typically weighing around 147 lbs, Jordan was well-proportioned and quickly showed himself to be an effective performer, winning nine in a row before dropping a decision in March 1954, to a fighter he had out-pointed just two months previously. He beat Art Ramponi to pick up the California State Welterweight title in October of that year and opened his 1955 campaign with a victory over former World Lightweight Champion Lauro Salas. From that point on, Jordan would be mixing it with the best.

Jordan’s progress over the next three years – including two notable victories over Gaspar Ortega – were rewarded when he challenged Virgil Akins for the World Welterweight Championship on 5 December 1958, winning by unanimous decision. Akins – who disputed the decision – would suffer an identical reverse when he met Jordan in a championship return five months later. That was the first of Jordan’s two successful title defences (the second was against Denny Moyer on 10 July 1959), before losing the title to Benny Paret, eighteen months after being crowned.

Once he lost his title, Jordan also seemed to lose his way. The last years of his career saw him record more defeats than victories and he was effectively – if ignominiously – ‘retired’ by the man refereeing his October 1962 contest with Battling Torres. When Jordan refused to get up after a knockdown in the first, referee Jimmy Wilson ruled that Torres had not actually hit Jordan hard enough to put him down and the fight was declared a ‘no contest’. Subsequently, the California State Athletic Commission suspended Jordan indefinitely. In 1961 Lucchese crime family mobster Frankie Carbo, known as "the Czar of Boxing" was charged with extortion and conspiracy regarding Jordan, convicted and given a 25-year federal sentence. Others convicted were Louis Tom Dragna (conviction overturned), Truman Gibson, Joe Sica, and Frank "Blinky" Palermo.

Death After being robbed and seriously assaulted in a Los Angeles parking lot in September 1996, Don Jordan went into a coma, and died in a nursing home in San Pedro, California, on 13 February 1997.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes76NC Battling TorresNC1 (10)Oct 5, 1962 75Loss51–23–1 Joey LimasUD10Jul 26, 1962 74Loss51–22–1 Giancarlo GarbelliPTS10Apr 27, 1962 73Loss51–21–1 Tony DeMarcoKO2 (10)Dec 19, 1961 72Loss51–20–1 Rodolfo DiazUD10Nov 14, 1961 71Loss51–19–1 Hilario MoralesTKO7 (10)Aug 15, 1961 70Loss51–18–1 Benny MedinaUD10Aug 1, 1961 69Loss51–17–1 Carmen BasilioUD10Mar 11, 1961 68Loss51–16–1 Ludwig LightburnPTS10Nov 26, 1960 67Draw51–15–1 Alfredo CotaPTS10Oct 16, 1960 66Win51–15 Julian ValdezMD10Aug 16, 1960 65Win50–15 Jesse BogartKO1 (10)Aug 6, 1960 64Loss49–15 Phil MoyerUD10Jul 15, 1960 63Loss49–14 Benny 'Kid' ParetUD15May 27, 1960 62Loss49–13 Marvin 'Candy' McFarlandUD10May 16, 1960 61Loss49–12 Luis Federico ThompsonKO4 (10)Dec 12, 1959 60Win49–11 Fernando BarretoPTS10Dec 5, 1959 59Win48–11 Denny MoyerUD15Jul 10, 1959 58Win47–11 Virgil AkinsUD15Apr 24, 1959 57Win46–11 Alvaro GutierrezTKO3 (10)Jan 22, 1959 56Win45–11 Virgil AkinsUD15Dec 5, 1958 55Win44–11 Gaspar OrtegaSD12Oct 22, 1958 54Win43–11 Gaspar OrtegaSD10Sep 17, 1958 53Win42–11 Lahouari GodihUD10Aug 29, 1958 52Win41–11 Issac LogartSD10Jul 2, 1958 51Win40–11 Alfredo CotaPTS10May 18, 1958 50Win39–11 Kid CentellaKO2 (10)May 5, 1958 49Win38–11 Francisco EchevarriaTKO3 (10)Apr 15, 1958 48Win37–11 Karl Heinz GuderSD10Feb 15, 1958 47Loss36–11 Dave CharnleyPTS10Jan 28, 1958 46Win36–10 Willie MortonMD10Jan 4, 1958 45Win35–10 Ray PortillaTKO 6 (10)Nov 29, 1957 44Win34–10 Orlando ZuluetaUD10Oct 12, 1957 43Win33–10 Juan PadillaUD10Aug 12, 1957 42Win32–10 Alfredo CotaKO1 (10)Jul 23, 1957 41Win31–10 Arnoldo GilKO2 (10)Jul 15, 1957 40Loss30–10 LC MorganUD10Jun 15, 1957 39Win30–9 Jesse BogartKO1 (10)May 11, 1957 38Win29–9 Ezequiel UribePTS10Mar 19, 1957 37Loss28–9 Charley Tombstone SmithUD12Jan 24, 1957 36Loss28–8 Al NevarezPTS10Jan 1, 1957 35Win28–7 Archie WhitewaterUD10Dec 27, 1956 34Win27–7 Enrique EsquedaKO1 (10)Nov 18, 1956 33Loss26–7 Orlando ZuluetaMD10Oct 16, 1956 32Win26–6 Frankie SkidmoreTKO7 (10)Jun 28, 1956 31Win25–6 Timmie JeffersonUD10Jun 7, 1956 30Loss24–6 Joey LopesSD12May 5, 1956 29Loss24–5 Jimmy CarterUD10Mar 29, 1956 28Win24–4 Paddy DeMarcoTKO5 (10)Feb 2, 1956 27Loss23–4 Art AragonUD10Dec 15, 1955 26Win23–3 Woody WinslowUD10Oct 20, 1955 25Win22–3 Woody WinslowUD10Sep 3, 1955 24Win21–3 Joe MiceliUD10Aug 18, 1955 23Loss20–3 Art AragonUD10Jun 2, 1955 22Win20–2 Lauro SalasSD12Mar 31, 1955 21Win19–2 Frankie CockrellUD10Mar 3, 1955 20Win18–2 Gaby MaciasUD10Feb 15, 1955 19Win17–2 Lauro SalasUD12Jan 13, 1955 18Win16–2 Manny RenteriaKO7 (12)Nov 29, 1954 17Win15–2 Art RamponiUD12Oct 4, 1954 16Win14–2 Billy HartmanTKO4 (10)Sep 20, 1954 15Win13–2 Art RamponiUD10Aug 30, 1954 14Win12–2 Freddie HermanSD10Jun 28, 1954 13Loss11–2 Dickie WongUD10May 31, 1954 12Win11–1 Manuel MontesTKO2 (10)Apr 17, 1954 11Loss10–1 Andy EscobarUD10Mar 20, 1954 10Win10–0 Raul EsquedaPTS10Feb 1, 1954 9Win9–0 Andy EscobarUD10Jan 16, 1954 8Win8–0 David CervantesUD6Dec 16, 1953 7Win7–0 Marvin SmithTKO5 (6)Nov 7, 1953 6Win6–0 Marvin SmithTKO5 (6)Oct 17, 1953 5Win5–0 Gaby MaciasTKO5 (6)Sep 26, 1953 4Win4–0 Chi Chi MartinezPTS4Aug 8, 1953 3Win3–0 Chi Chi MartinezUD6Jul 4, 1953 2Win2–0 Al BarberoPTS4May 18, 1953 1Win1–0 Ray SernaPTS4Apr 27, 1953

Titles in boxing Major world titles NYSAC welterweight champion (147 lbs) NBA (WBA) welterweight champion (147 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring welterweight champion (147 lbs)

Undisputed titles Undisputed welterweight champion

See also List of welterweight boxing champions

References

Sources

External links

boxrec.com boxrec.com boxrec.com