László Papp (25 March 1926 – 16 October 2003) was a Hungarian professional boxer from Budapest. He was left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, and the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, 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 country at the time and professional boxing was not permitted. Papp had to travel to Vienna, 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.
Death László Papp died in Budapest 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.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes29Win Mick LeahyPTS15Oct 9, 196428Win26–0–2 Christian ChristensenKO4 (15)Jul 2, 196427Win25–0–2 Harry ScottPTS10Mar 13, 196426Win24–0–2 Luis FolledoTKO8 (15)Dec 6, 196325Win23–0–2 Charley CottonKO7 (10)Jun 14, 196324Win22–0–2 Randy SandyPTS10May 17, 196323Win21–0–2 Peter MüllerTKO4 (15)Mar 30, 196322Win20–0–2 George AldridgeTKO15 (15)Feb 6, 196321Win19–0–2 Hippolyte AnnexKO9 (15)Nov 19, 196220Win18–0–2 Christian ChristensenTKO7 (15)May 16, 196219Win17–0–2 Ralph 'Tiger' JonesPTS10Mar 21, 196218Win16–0–2 Michel FrancoisTKO2 (10)Dec 2, 196117Win15–0–2 Peter MüllerTKO4 (10)Oct 13, 196116Win14–0–2 Peter MüllerTKO8 (10)Sep 10, 196115Win13–0–2 Moussa SangarePTS10Apr 8, 196114Win12–0–2 Sauveur ChioccaPTS10Feb 20, 196113Draw11–0–2 Giancarlo GarbelliPTS10Dec 26, 196012Win11–0–1 Mohammed BoudibKO7 (10)Oct 1, 196011Win10–0–1 Erich WalterKO9 (10)Sep 23, 196010Win9–0–1 Lou PerryPTS10Feb 10, 19609Win8–0–1 Bill TateKO3 (10)Sep 18, 19598Draw7–0–1 Germinal BallarinPTS10Apr 13, 19597Win7–0 Jean RuelletPTS10Mar 16, 19596Win6–0 Andre DrillePTS10Feb 9, 19595Win5–0 Francois AnewyKO3 (10)Dec 15, 19584Win4–0 Hugo KohlerKO6 (10)Oct 17, 19583Win3–0 Gerhard MollPTS6Jun 28, 19572Win2–0 Herbert SowaPTS4Jun 15, 19571Win1–0 Alois BrandPTS4May 18, 1957
See also List of Hungarians
References
His biography at Hungary.hu
International Boxing Hall of Fame Bio
External links Official homepage