| Don Jordan | |
| Nickname: | Geronimo |
| Total: | 76 |
| Wins: | 51 |
| Ko: | 17 |
| Losses: | 23 |
| Draws: | 1 |
| No Contests: | 1 |
| Birth Date: | 22 June 1934 |
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Death Place: | San Pedro, California, U.S. |
Don Jordan (June 22, 1934 – February 13, 1997) was an American boxer born in Los Angeles, California and was the Welterweight Champion of the World from 1958 to 1960. His nickname was ‘Geronimo’.[1] He was of Mexican and African American descent.[2]
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.[3] Others convicted were Louis Tom Dragna (conviction overturned), Truman Gibson, Joe Sica, and Frank "Blinky" Palermo.
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.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76 | NC | 51–22–1 | Battling Torres | NC | 1 (10) | Oct 5, 1962 | ||
| 75 | Loss | 51–23–1 | Joey Limas | UD | 10 | Jul 26, 1962 | ||
| 74 | Loss | 51–22–1 | Giancarlo Garbelli | PTS | 10 | Apr 27, 1962 | ||
| 73 | Loss | 51–21–1 | Tony DeMarco | KO | 2 (10) | Dec 19, 1961 | ||
| 72 | Loss | 51–20–1 | Rodolfo Diaz | UD | 10 | Nov 14, 1961 | ||
| 71 | Loss | 51–19–1 | Hilario Morales | TKO | 7 (10) | Aug 15, 1961 | ||
| 70 | Loss | 51–18–1 | Benny Medina | UD | 10 | Aug 1, 1961 | ||
| 69 | Loss | 51–17–1 | Carmen Basilio | UD | 10 | Mar 11, 1961 | ||
| 68 | Loss | 51–16–1 | Ludwig Lightburn | PTS | 10 | Nov 26, 1960 | ||
| 67 | Draw | 51–15–1 | Alfredo Cota | PTS | 10 | Oct 16, 1960 | ||
| 66 | Win | 51–15 | Julian Valdez | MD | 10 | Aug 16, 1960 | ||
| 65 | Win | 50–15 | Jesse Bogart | KO | 1 (10) | Aug 6, 1960 | ||
| 64 | Loss | 49–15 | Phil Moyer | UD | 10 | Jul 15, 1960 | ||
| 63 | Loss | 49–14 | Benny 'Kid' Paret | UD | 15 | May 27, 1960 | ||
| 62 | Loss | 49–13 | Marvin 'Candy' McFarland | UD | 10 | May 16, 1960 | ||
| 61 | Loss | 49–12 | Luis Federico Thompson | KO | 4 (10) | Dec 12, 1959 | ||
| 60 | Win | 49–11 | Fernando Barreto | PTS | 10 | Dec 5, 1959 | ||
| 59 | Win | 48–11 | Denny Moyer | UD | 15 | Jul 10, 1959 | ||
| 58 | Win | 47–11 | Virgil Akins | UD | 15 | Apr 24, 1959 | ||
| 57 | Win | 46–11 | Alvaro Gutierrez | TKO | 3 (10) | Jan 22, 1959 | ||
| 56 | Win | 45–11 | Virgil Akins | UD | 15 | Dec 5, 1958 | ||
| 55 | Win | 44–11 | Gaspar Ortega | SD | 12 | Oct 22, 1958 | ||
| 54 | Win | 43–11 | Gaspar Ortega | SD | 10 | Sep 17, 1958 | ||
| 53 | Win | 42–11 | Lahouari Godih | UD | 10 | Aug 29, 1958 | ||
| 52 | Win | 41–11 | Issac Logart | SD | 10 | Jul 2, 1958 | ||
| 51 | Win | 40–11 | Alfredo Cota | PTS | 10 | May 18, 1958 | ||
| 50 | Win | 39–11 | Kid Centella | KO | 2 (10) | May 5, 1958 | ||
| 49 | Win | 38–11 | Francisco Echevarria | TKO | 3 (10) | Apr 15, 1958 | ||
| 48 | Win | 37–11 | Karl Heinz Guder | SD | 10 | Feb 15, 1958 | ||
| 47 | Loss | 36–11 | Dave Charnley | PTS | 10 | Jan 28, 1958 | ||
| 46 | Win | 36–10 | Willie Morton | MD | 10 | Jan 4, 1958 | ||
| 45 | Win | 35–10 | Ray Portilla | TKO | 6 (10) | Nov 29, 1957 | ||
| 44 | Win | 34–10 | Orlando Zulueta | UD | 10 | Oct 12, 1957 | ||
| 43 | Win | 33–10 | Juan Padilla | UD | 10 | Aug 12, 1957 | ||
| 42 | Win | 32–10 | Alfredo Cota | KO | 1 (10) | Jul 23, 1957 | ||
| 41 | Win | 31–10 | Arnoldo Gil | KO | 2 (10) | Jul 15, 1957 | ||
| 40 | Loss | 30–10 | LC Morgan | UD | 10 | Jun 15, 1957 | ||
| 39 | Win | 30–9 | Jesse Bogart | KO | 1 (10) | May 11, 1957 | ||
| 38 | Win | 29–9 | Ezequiel Uribe | PTS | 10 | Mar 19, 1957 | ||
| 37 | Loss | 28–9 | Charley Tombstone Smith | UD | 12 | Jan 24, 1957 | ||
| 36 | Loss | 28–8 | Al Nevarez | PTS | 10 | Jan 1, 1957 | ||
| 35 | Win | 28–7 | Archie Whitewater | UD | 10 | Dec 27, 1956 | ||
| 34 | Win | 27–7 | Enrique Esqueda | KO | 1 (10) | Nov 18, 1956 | ||
| 33 | Loss | 26–7 | Orlando Zulueta | MD | 10 | Oct 16, 1956 | ||
| 32 | Win | 26–6 | Frankie Skidmore | TKO | 7 (10) | Jun 28, 1956 | ||
| 31 | Win | 25–6 | Timmie Jefferson | UD | 10 | Jun 7, 1956 | ||
| 30 | Loss | 24–6 | Joey Lopes | SD | 12 | May 5, 1956 | ||
| 29 | Loss | 24–5 | Jimmy Carter | UD | 10 | Mar 29, 1956 | ||
| 28 | Win | 24–4 | Paddy DeMarco | TKO | 5 (10) | Feb 2, 1956 | ||
| 27 | Loss | 23–4 | Art Aragon | UD | 10 | Dec 15, 1955 | ||
| 26 | Win | 23–3 | Woody Winslow | UD | 10 | Oct 20, 1955 | ||
| 25 | Win | 22–3 | Woody Winslow | UD | 10 | Sep 3, 1955 | ||
| 24 | Win | 21–3 | Joe Miceli | UD | 10 | Aug 18, 1955 | ||
| 23 | Loss | 20–3 | Art Aragon | UD | 10 | Jun 2, 1955 | ||
| 22 | Win | 20–2 | Lauro Salas | SD | 12 | Mar 31, 1955 | ||
| 21 | Win | 19–2 | Frankie Cockrell | UD | 10 | Mar 3, 1955 | ||
| 20 | Win | 18–2 | Gaby Macias | UD | 10 | Feb 15, 1955 | ||
| 19 | Win | 17–2 | Lauro Salas | UD | 12 | Jan 13, 1955 | ||
| 18 | Win | 16–2 | Manny Renteria | KO | 7 (12) | Nov 29, 1954 | ||
| 17 | Win | 15–2 | Art Ramponi | UD | 12 | Oct 4, 1954 | ||
| 16 | Win | 14–2 | Billy Hartman | TKO | 4 (10) | Sep 20, 1954 | ||
| 15 | Win | 13–2 | Art Ramponi | UD | 10 | Aug 30, 1954 | ||
| 14 | Win | 12–2 | Freddie Herman | SD | 10 | Jun 28, 1954 | ||
| 13 | Loss | 11–2 | Dickie Wong | UD | 10 | May 31, 1954 | ||
| 12 | Win | 11–1 | Manuel Montes | TKO | 2 (10) | Apr 17, 1954 | ||
| 11 | Loss | 10–1 | Andy Escobar | UD | 10 | Mar 20, 1954 | ||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Raul Esqueda | PTS | 10 | Feb 1, 1954 | ||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Andy Escobar | UD | 10 | Jan 16, 1954 | ||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | David Cervantes | UD | 6 | Dec 16, 1953 | ||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Marvin Smith | TKO | 5 (6) | Nov 7, 1953 | ||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Marvin Smith | TKO | 5 (6) | Oct 17, 1953 | ||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Gaby Macias | TKO | 5 (6) | Sep 26, 1953 | ||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Chi Chi Martinez | PTS | 4 | Aug 8, 1953 | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Chi Chi Martinez | UD | 6 | Jul 4, 1953 | ||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Al Barbero | PTS | 4 | May 18, 1953 | ||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Ray Serna | PTS | 4 | Apr 27, 1953 | ||
1. Biographical information: (i) The Ring Record Book & Boxing Encyclopedia 1959 (Nat Fleischer, The Ring Book Shop Inc., 1959). See p. 8 for a very brief cameo. (ii) WBA Online http://www.wbaonline.com/default.asp, offers confirmation of the date and manner of Jordan’s death.
2. Ring Record: (i) The Cyber Boxing Zone http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/jordando.htm. This source misses Jordan’s first defence of the Welterweight Championship, taking place 24 April 1959. (ii) The Boxing Records Archive http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=009709. This source also provides information about the manner of the end of Jordan's career. (iii) The Ring Record Book & Boxing Encyclopedia 1959 (Nat Fleischer, The Ring Book Shop Inc., 1959), P.276.