Otto Wessel von Porat (29 November 1903 – 14 October 1982) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

heavyweight

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. He won a gold medal in

Boxing at the 1924 Summer Olympics These are the results of the boxing competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Medals were awarded in eight weight classes. The competitions were held from 15 to 20 July. Medal summary Participating nations A total of 181 boxers fro ...

, defeating Danish boxer

Søren Petersen Søren Peter Petersen (December 6, 1894 – 1945) was a Danish heavyweight professional boxer who competed in the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in Kolding and died in Belgium. Petersen won a silver medal in boxing at the 1920 Summer Oly ...

in the final.

Background

Von Porat was born in the little parish of Pjätteryd,

Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; sv, Kronobergs län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the counties of Skåne, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, and Blekinge. Its capital ...

, Sweden, into an independently wealthy family. The von Porats lived on a huge estate in Sweden. An English tutor gave von Porat and his three brothers their early education, hence von Porat learned to speak

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with a decidedly

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accent. He also learned to speak

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and French fluently. While very young, he and his family moved to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, where his father organized a branch of the Berlitz Language School. In early 1914 the family settled in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

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, where his father made extensive maritime investments. The von Porat fortune disappeared rapidly when

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

came along, forcing the four von Porat boys to seek work.

Amateur career

It was while employed as a minor clerk in the office of an Oslo shipping agent that von Porat became interested in boxing. He knocked out two opponents in one evening during his first amateur tournament. Shortly thereafter he knocked out the amateur middleweight champion of Denmark in two rounds. Otto von Porat went on to flatten all the best heavyweight amateurs in Europe, then won the Olympic Heavyweight Gold Medal at the

1924 Paris Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

. He returned to Norway to serve in the Norwegian Army. He represented the club Oslo AK.

Pro career

Von Porat then came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the Summer of 1926, turning professional at that time. He generally fought in the rings of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

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, and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He was a huge drawing card in the Chicago area. He could often be found at the Chicago Norske Klub, a Norwegian-American cultural center. It is said that his fight with

Paulino Uzcudun Paulino Uzcudun Eizmendi (3 May 1899 – 5 July 1985) was a Spanish heavyweight boxer, who is considered to be the greatest heavyweight from Spain. Uzkudun is the Basque spelling of his last name. He was the youngest of nine siblings. In his y ...

"gave rise to the wide-spread impression that von Porat lack daggressiveness and ... the 'killer instinct.' Although he had a once-promising career and was a top contender for the Heavyweight Title, von Porat apparently lacked self-confidence and thus "lost fighting strength in the rough American school."

Life after boxing

After his boxing career ended von Porat continued to live in Chicago. In 1982 he died in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

Trivia

* Featured on the cover of the April 1930 ''The Ring'' magazine. * One of only four Norwegian boxers to have gained success in America during the 20th Century, along with Terry Martin, Haakon Hansen, and

Pete Sanstol Pete Sanstol (March 28, 1905 – March 13, 1982) was a Norwegian professional boxer who took the Canadian version of the World Bantamweight Championship in Montreal in 1931 against Archie Bell. He contended twice unsuccessfully for the NBA Worl ...

References

External links

* * Most of the above information is taken from

THE RING magazine ''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...

, April 1930 issue, pp. 42–43.
BoxRec
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porat, Otto von 1903 births 1982 deaths Heavyweight boxers Olympic boxers for Norway Olympic gold medalists for Norway Boxers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics People from Älmhult Municipality Norwegian male boxers