LÁSZLÓ PAPP - Boxer

March 25, 1926, Budapest – October 16, 2003, Budapest

Three-time Olympic champion boxer

In an active sports career from 1945 to 1964, Papp won Olympic championships in 1948, 1952 and 1956, first as a middleweight, and then as a light heavyweight. He also won two European championships.

In 1957, he became a professional, winning 29 fights, and taking the European title in 1962, 1963 and 1964.

The communist leadership of the country did not allow Papp to compete for the professional world championship, so he retired and became a coach. He was appointed head coach in 1970. He served as adviser for the Ferencváros Club from 1964 to 1968, for Budapest Honvéd in 1969, and became chief coach for the national team in 1969. Papp held this position until 1992, also working as a club coach.

In 1982 Papp was presented with the International Olympic Committee Order of Merit, and in 1989 he received the World Boxing Commission’s belt for “the world’s best amateur and professional middleweight boxer.” He has been a member of the Hungarian Immortals’ Club since 1991. He received an International Fair Play award in 1993.

In 2001 Papp was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was voted the third best Hungarian male athlete of the 20th century in a contest run by the newspaper Nemzeti Sport under the patronage of the Hungarian Olympic Committee.

Laszlo Papp, Olympic champion boxer