László Papp (25 March 1926 – 16 October 2003) was a Hungarian professional boxer from
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. He was left-handed and won gold medals in the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...
in London, the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland.
After Japan declared in ...
in
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
, and the
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...
held in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia. In his final Olympic competition he became the first boxer in Olympic history to win three successive gold medals. He won 12 of his 13 Olympic fights without losing a round, dropping only one, in his last Olympic final, to American boxer
José Torres.
There was not another triple gold medalist for 20 years, when Cuba's
Teófilo Stevenson won three, followed by another Cuban
Félix Savón as the third of the three men to accomplish the feat.
Amateur career
Papp was an Olympic gold medalist three times, at middleweight in London in 1948, then as a light middleweight in Helsinki in 1952 and in Melbourne in 1956. Papp also was the European amateur middleweight champion as a middleweight in 1949 at Oslo and at light middleweight at Milan in 1951. He scored 55 first-round knockouts as an amateur, his record was 301-12-6.
Olympic results
1948 London (England)
*Defeated
Valfrid Resko (Finland) KO 2
*Defeated
Jean Welter (Luxembourg) KO 1
*Defeated
Auguste Cavignac (Belgium) KO 1
*Defeated
Ivano Fontana (Italy) 3-0
*Defeated
John Wright (England) 3-0
1952 Helsinki (Finland)
*Defeated
Ellsworth Webb (United States) KO 2
*Defeated
Charlie Chase (Canada) KO 2
*Defeated
Petar Stankoff Spassoff (Bulgaria) 3-0
*Defeated
Eladio Oscar Herrera (Argentina) 3-0
*Defeated
Theunis Jacobus van Schalkwyk (South Africa) 3-0
1956 Melbourne (Australia)
*Defeated
Alberto Saenz (Argentina) KO 3
*Defeated
Zbigniew Pietrzykowski (Poland) 3-0
*Defeated
José Torres (USA) 2-1
Professional career
Papp, despite having hand trouble, turned professional in 1957 and immediately began rising in the
Middleweight ranks. However, Hungary was a
Communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
country at the time and professional boxing was not permitted. Papp had to travel to
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, in Austria, for training and for his fights. In spite of this disadvantage, he beat several top-ranking contenders for the European
Middleweight title, including veteran
Tiger Jones, French champion
Hippolyte Annex and
Chris Christensen. After Christensen, Papp defeated Randy Sandy of the United States. In 1964, after Papp had already signed up for the world championship title bout against Joey Giardello, Hungary's Communist leadership brought his professional career to an end by denying him an exit visa.
Papp is one of the few boxers in history to ever retire undefeated in the ring. His fighting record was 27 wins, 2 draws, and no losses. 15 of his wins were by way of
knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...
.
Death
László Papp died in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
in 2003.
Honours
Papp was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2001.
In 1989 WBC President
José Sulaimán gave Papp an award for 'Best amateur and professional boxer of all time' and granted him honorary champion status of the
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...
.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
List of Hungarians
References
His biography at Hungary.hu*
International Boxing Hall of Fame Bio*
External links
Official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papp, Laszlo
1926 births
2003 deaths
Olympic boxers for Hungary
Middleweight boxers
European Boxing Union champions
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
Boxers at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Boxers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Boxers from Budapest
Olympic gold medalists for Hungary
Olympic medalists in boxing
Hungarian male boxers
Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Burials at Farkasréti Cemetery
20th-century Hungarian sportsmen