Hein ten Hoff (19 November 1919 – 13 June 2003) was a German boxer and ''Präsident des Bundes Deutscher Berufsboxer'' (BDB). He was the son of a Dutch peasant, who left The Netherlands for Germany (

Oldenburg Land Oldenburg Land (german: Oldenburger Land) is a region and regional association in the German state of Lower Saxony in the area of the former Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (1815–1918), the later Free State of Oldenburg (1918–1946) and administrativ ...

) in the end of the 1930s, and became a German citizen.

Amateur career

As an amateur boxer, Hein ten Hoff had 185 wins, 78 by KO, for a total of 194 fights. He was thrice a German champion in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

class (1940, 1941 and 1944 – he beat

Herbert Runge Herbert Runge (23 January 1913 – 11 March 1986) was a German heavyweight boxer. He won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He was born in Elberfeld, which later became part of Wuppertal, where he died as well. Amateur c ...

), and won the gold medal at the

1942 European Amateur Boxing Championships The 1942 European Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Breslau, Germany from 20 to 25 January. There were 97 fighters from 11 countries participating: Germany, Hungary, and Italy (16 boxers in each squad), and Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Ne ...

in Breslau.

Professional career

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was a professional boxer, from September 1945 until August 1955 (won 32 (KO 28), lost 7 (KO 3), drawn 4, for a total of 43 fights). The international boxing world referred to him as the "Gentleman of the Ring", "''Künstler''", or "''Ästhet im Ring''". He won the German BDB heavyweight title in 1946, then lost a ten-round decision to

Jersey Joe Walcott Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), best known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1930 to 1953. He held the NYSAC, NBA, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight titles from 1951 to 1952, ...

, the upcoming World champion, at Mannheim 1950, and finally won the EBU (European) heavyweight title, defeating Jack Gardner at West Berlin 1951.

List of European Boxing Union heavyweight champions The following is a list of European Boxing Union champions. The European Boxing Union (EBU) is a professional boxing governing body that sanctions championship bouts in Europe. Heavyweight ''Last update: 6 March 2021'' Cruiserweight ''Last updat ...

He retired from professional boxing in 1955 after he was knocked out by

Ingemar Johansson Jens Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson (; 22 September 1932 – 30 January 2009) was a Swedish professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1963. He held the world heavyweight title from 1959 to 1960, and was the fifth heavyweight champion born outside ...

, the upcoming World champion, in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

Notable bouts

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoff, Hein ten 1919 births 2003 deaths Heavyweight boxers European Boxing Union champions German male boxers People from Ammerland German people of Dutch descent Sportspeople from Lower Saxony