Tolling the bell for Bennie Briscoe

 Boxing aficionados will remember Bennie “Bad” Briscoe as one of the best middleweights in the world in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Briscoe, who died last month in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia at age 67, fought twice in Las Vegas.

His first bought was a four-round decision over Joe Clark on July 22, 1963 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

On Aug. 7, 1968, he returned to fight at one of my favorite local venues, the Silver Slipper. Briscoe battered Gene Bryant for 10 rounds and came away with a TKO.

In 1990, Briscoe told KO Magazine, “I still think about my career a lot. I miss going into the ring. The big money wasn’t there when I was fighting, but I really enjoyed myself. I don’t have any regrets. If it wasn’t for boxing, I wouldn’t have gone to all those countries and met all those people. And, man, when I used to come down the aisle and all those people were cheering for me, it felt like I was on top of the world.”

Briscoe learned the shadowy secrets of the Philadelphia boxing scene and almost made it to the top of the world.

For more on Briscoe, including fight footage, try beatsboxingmayhem.com