Paul Pons (June 23, 1864–April 13, 1915), stage name ''le Colosse'' ("The Colossus"), was a French wrestler. He won the first title as world champion in

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

in 1898 (as opposed to the first Olympic victory, won two years earlier by

Carl Schuhmann Carl August Berthold Schuhmann (12 May 1869 – 24 March 1946) was a German athlete who won four Olympic titles in gymnastics and sport wrestling, wrestling at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, becoming the most successful athlete at the in ...

). Born in

Sorgues Sorgues (; oc, Sòrgas) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. The river Ouvèze, a tributary of the Rhône, as well ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

he won the first world championship in wrestling, organized by ''Le Journal des Sports'', by beating Polish competitor from

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, Wladislaus Pytlasinski. His fame allowed him to open a gym in Paris offering wrestling classes. His most famous student was Belgian wrestler, Constant Lavaux (stage name ''Constant le Boucher''). The championship passed to Bulgarian

Nikola Petroff Nikola Petrov ( bg, Никола Петров), better known as Nikola Petroff, (19 December 1873 – 2 January 1925) was a Bulgarian wrestler. He was born in the town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bulgaria. On 20 July 1898, in New York City, he earned t ...

in 1900, when he defeated Pons at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Pons was considered one of the best wrestlers of all time during his lifetime. He published his memoirs in the sports magazine ''La Vie au grand air'' in 1907. He continued competing until 1909, when he, now aged 44, was defeated by Giovanni Raicevich in Milan. Pons published a book on the history of wrestling in 1912. He was included in the French ''gloires du sport'' (hall of fame of French sports) in 2003 and in

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of t ...

in 2019.

Championships and accomplishments

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

(Class of 2019) *

International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (IPWHF) is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum that is located in Albany, New York (state), New York. The museum was founded by Seth Turner, Tony Vellano, the founder of P ...

**Class of 2021

References

* Monique Berlioux, Serge Laget et Eric Lahmy, ''Gloires du sport'', Paris-Biarritz, Atlantica, 2009 . {{DEFAULTSORT:Pons, Paul 1864 births 1915 deaths French male wrestlers People associated with physical culture Sportspeople from Vaucluse