Emile Alphonse Griffith was a professional boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands who became a World Champion in the welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight classes. His best-known contest was a 1962 title match with Benny Paret. At the weigh-in, Paret infuriated Griffith, a bisexual man, by touching his buttocks and making a homophobic slur. Griffith won the bout by knockout; Paret never recovered consciousness and died in the hospital 10 days later.
László Papp 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 Teófilo Stevenson won three, followed by Félix Savón as the third of the three men to accomplish the feat.
Robert James Fitzsimmons was a British professional boxer who was the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating Gentleman Jim Corbett, and he is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the lightest heavyweight champion, weighing just 165 pounds when he won the title. Nicknamed Ruby Robert and The Freckled Wonder, he took pride in his lack of scars and appeared in the ring wearing heavy woollen underwear to conceal the disparity between his trunk and leg-development.
Billy Papke was an American boxer who held the World Middleweight Championship from September 7 to November 26, 1908. In 1910-12, he also took the Australian and British versions of the World Middleweight Championship, though American boxing historians generally take less note of these titles. With a solid and efficient punch, 70 percent of his better publicized career wins by decision were from knockouts, and roughly 40% of his reported fights were as well. Papke was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001. Sportswriter Nat Fleischer, original owner of "Ring" Magazine, ranked Papke as the seventh best middleweight of all time. Announcer Charley Rose ranked him as the tenth greatest middleweight in boxing history. He was elected to the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972.
Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations.
The bantamweight was one of five boxing weight classes contested on the boxing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Like all other boxing events, it was open only to men. The boxing competitions were all held on October 27. The bantamweight was the lightest class, allowing boxers of up to 116 pounds (52.6 kg). Six boxers from two nations competed. Each NOC could enter up to 12 boxers. France entered 3 boxers, 2 of whom withdrew; Great Britain entered 5 boxers.
The featherweight was one of five boxing weight classes contested on the boxing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Like all other boxing events, it was open only to men. The boxing competitions were held on October 27. The featherweight was the second-lightest class, allowing boxers of up to 126 pounds (57.2 kg). Eight boxers from two nations competed. Each NOC could enter up to 12 boxers. France entered 5 boxers, 3 of whom withdrew; Great Britain entered 8 boxers, 2 of whom withdrew.
The lightweight was one of five boxing weight classes contested on the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Like all other boxing events, it was open only to men. The boxing competitions were held on October 27. The lightweight was the middle class, allowing boxers of up to 140 pounds (63.5 kg). Twelve boxers from three nations competed. Each NOC could enter up to 12 boxers. Australasia entered 1 boxer, who withdrew; France entered 3 boxers, 2 of whom withdrew; Denmark entered 2 boxers; and Great Britain entered 9 boxers.
The middleweight was one of five boxing weight classes contested on the boxing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Like all other boxing events, it was open only to men. The boxing competitions were all held on October 27. The middleweight was the second-heaviest class, allowing boxers of up to 158 pounds (71.7 kg). It was the only boxing event in which a non-British boxer won a bout. Reginald Baker from Australia won three before losing to Johnny Douglas in the final. Ten boxers from three nations competed. Each NOC could enter up to 12 boxers. Australasia entered 1 boxer; France entered 5 boxers, 2 of whom withdrew; and Great Britain entered 6 boxers.
The heavyweight was one of five boxing weight classes contested on the boxing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Like all other boxing events, it was open only to men. The boxing competitions were all held on October 27. The heavyweight was the middle class, allowing boxers of any weight. Six boxers all from Great Britain competed. Each NOC could enter up to 12 boxers. France entered 1 boxer, who withdrew; Great Britain entered 7 boxers, 1 of whom withdrew, and the Netherlands entered 1 boxer, who withdrew.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Despite the name, athletes from the newly independent Irish Free State competed separately. Following the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, the name changed (officially) to 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' but the Olympic team competed as Great Britain from the 1928 games onwards. 267 competitors, 239 men and 28 women, took part in 115 events in 18 sports.
Henry William Mallin was an English middleweight amateur boxer. He came originally from Hackney Wick, his younger brother was the Olympic boxer Fred Mallin. He lived in Dartmouth Park, North London and was a police officer with the Metropolitan Police.
Italy competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. 200 competitors, 196 men and 4 women, took part in 93 events in 18 sports.
Vijender Singh Beniwal is an Indian professional boxer and politician. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. He also won bronze medals at the 2009 World Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games, as well as silver medals at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, all in the middleweight division.
Roger Brousse was a French boxer. He competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics. In 1924, Brousse initially was awarded the victory on points in his quarter-final bout of the middleweight class. However, he was later disqualified for having bitten his opponent, the eventual gold medalist, Harry Mallin.
Frederick Granville Mallin was an English boxer who competed for Great Britain in the 1928 Summer Olympics. He fought as Fred Mallin.
Justann John Crawford is a retired indigenous Australian Olympic boxer. Justann earned 9 international gold medals and represented Australia at the 1992, 1996 Olympic Games and 1994 Commonwealth Games. He also held 9 Australian boxing titles mainly in the middleweight division, or in the light heavyweight division.
Joe Bowker was a British boxer who was world bantamweight champion from 1904 to 1905. His defeat of Frankie Neil on 17 October in London for the world bantamweight title was acclaimed as the most remarkable event in the sport in 1904.
The men's middleweight boxing competition at the 1948 Olympic Games in London was held from 7 to 13 August at the Empress Hall in Earl's Court and the Wembley Arena.
Daniel (Danny) McFarlane is a former boxer turned British AIBA boxing referee, whose most high-profile bout saw Shakur Stevenson, take on Robeisy Ramirez (Cuba) in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic bantamweight final.
