| László Papp | |
| Realname: | László Papp |
| Nickname: | Laci Papp |
| Weight: | Middleweight Light Middleweight |
| Height: | 1.65m (05.41feet) |
| Nationality: | Hungarian |
| Birth Date: | 25 March 1926 |
| Birth Place: | Budapest, Hungary |
| Death Place: | Budapest, Hungary |
| Style: | Southpaw |
| Total: | 29 |
| Wins: | 27 |
| Ko: | 15 |
| Draws: | 2 |
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.
Papp was an Olympic gold medalist three times,[1] 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.
1948 London (England)
1952 Helsinki (Finland)
1956 Melbourne (Australia)
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.
László Papp died in Budapest in 2003. [2]
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.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Win | 27–0–2 | Mick Leahy | PTS | 15 | Oct 9, 1964 | ||
| 28 | Win | 26–0–2 | Christian Christensen | KO | 4 (15) | Jul 2, 1964 | ||
| 27 | Win | 25–0–2 | Harry Scott | PTS | 10 | Mar 13, 1964 | ||
| 26 | Win | 24–0–2 | Luis Folledo | TKO | 8 (15) | Dec 6, 1963 | ||
| 25 | Win | 23–0–2 | Charley Cotton | KO | 7 (10) | Jun 14, 1963 | ||
| 24 | Win | 22–0–2 | Randy Sandy | PTS | 10 | May 17, 1963 | ||
| 23 | Win | 21–0–2 | Peter Müller | TKO | 4 (15) | Mar 30, 1963 | ||
| 22 | Win | 20–0–2 | George Aldridge | TKO | 15 (15) | Feb 6, 1963 | ||
| 21 | Win | 19–0–2 | Hippolyte Annex | KO | 9 (15) | Nov 19, 1962 | ||
| 20 | Win | 18–0–2 | Christian Christensen | TKO | 7 (15) | May 16, 1962 | ||
| 19 | Win | 17–0–2 | Ralph 'Tiger' Jones | PTS | 10 | Mar 21, 1962 | ||
| 18 | Win | 16–0–2 | Michel Francois | TKO | 2 (10) | Dec 2, 1961 | ||
| 17 | Win | 15–0–2 | Peter Müller | TKO | 4 (10) | Oct 13, 1961 | ||
| 16 | Win | 14–0–2 | Peter Müller | TKO | 8 (10) | Sep 10, 1961 | ||
| 15 | Win | 13–0–2 | Moussa Sangare | PTS | 10 | Apr 8, 1961 | ||
| 14 | Win | 12–0–2 | Sauveur Chiocca | PTS | 10 | Feb 20, 1961 | ||
| 13 | Draw | 11–0–2 | Giancarlo Garbelli | PTS | 10 | Dec 26, 1960 | ||
| 12 | Win | 11–0–1 | Mohammed Boudib | KO | 7 (10) | Oct 1, 1960 | ||
| 11 | Win | 10–0–1 | Erich Walter | KO | 9 (10) | Sep 23, 1960 | ||
| 10 | Win | 9–0–1 | Lou Perry | PTS | 10 | Feb 10, 1960 | ||
| 9 | Win | 8–0–1 | Bill Tate | KO | 3 (10) | Sep 18, 1959 | ||
| 8 | Draw | 7–0–1 | Germinal Ballarin | PTS | 10 | Apr 13, 1959 | ||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Jean Ruellet | PTS | 10 | Mar 16, 1959 | ||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Andre Drille | PTS | 10 | Feb 9, 1959 | ||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Francois Anewy | KO | 3 (10) | Dec 15, 1958 | ||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Hugo Kohler | KO | 6 (10) | Oct 17, 1958 | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Gerhard Moll | PTS | 6 | Jun 28, 1957 | ||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Herbert Sowa | PTS | 4 | Jun 15, 1957 | ||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Alois Brand | PTS | 4 | May 18, 1957 | ||