How good was Laszo Papp as an professional?

Answer 1

László Papp (March 25, 1926 – October 16, 2003) was a Hungarian boxer, born in 1926, in Budapest. He 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 beat José Torres for the gold medal, to become the first boxer in Olympic history to win three successive gold medals.

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 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, Hungary's Communist leadership brought his professional career to an end by denying him an exit visa. The reason for this was that professional boxing was not permitted in Communist Hungary and the government resented Papp's successful by-passing of the restriction by staging his fights abroad.

Papp was undefeated in the ring. His fighting record was 27 wins, 2 draws, and no losses. 15 of his wins were with knockouts. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2001.

László Papp died in Budapest in 2003.

Answer 2

Papp was very good, one of the best of his era.