Issue(s): Daredevil #68
Cover Date: Sep 70
Title: "Phoenix and the fighter!"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Syd Shores - Inker

Review/plot:
Daredevil is back in New York, and (in both his DD and Matt Murdock personas) he helps Foggy Nelson investigate the case of a promising boxer getting bought by a shady conglomerate. It turns out the boxer's trainer is "Pop" Fenton, who also trained Matt's father (this is his only appearance or mention so far, but Michael notes in the Comments that he'll appear once more), giving Matt an in to talk to the boxer.

The conglomerate are a hilariously super-villainy group of bozos...

...and that are part of a vaguely defined "extremist" group called Phoenix that plan to fund their movement by betting against their boxer. But since he won't agree to take a fall, they instead plan to use a super-science blinding ray to cause the boxer to lose his sight in the ring. But they didn't figure on Daredevil knocking out the boxer Vulcan style...

...and then replacing him in the ring. Daredevil obviously took some lessons from the Stilt-Man after his amazing use of make-up last issue.

You'd think if the Phoenix group had technology like this, they wouldn't need to rig boxing matches for money...

...and they also wouldn't need to buy the rights to boxers since they could turn that ray on anyone.

In any event, since Daredevil is already blind, the ray has no effect on him, etc.. It's an incredibly stupid story.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential Daredevil vol. 3

Pop Fenton and Kid Gawaine appear again in Daredevil 119.

Thanks Michael. Added them as characters and updated my comment about Pop.

The cover to this is widely considered to be one of the silliest in Marvel's first decade.

Heh, yeah. Here's a link to the cover.