Pro Boxing Catches On in Hungary a Little Late for Laszlo Papp

Twenty-five years after his retirement as one of boxing’s all-time greats, Laszlo Papp is both beaming and bitter.

Bitter that he never got his chance to fight for the world title and bitter that he was never allowed to compete as a professional in his native Hungary.

Beaming that professional boxing, scorned and ignored for generations in Eastern Europe, has finally caught up with this proud, sports-mad nation.

“I only wish I could turn the clock back,” Papp said.

Papp, 63, is one of only two boxers ever to win three Olympic titles. In 1948, he took the middleweight gold medal in London, and won the gold again in 1952 (Helsinki) and 1956 (Melbourne) as a light-middleweight.

When he turned professional after his third Olympic title, Papp was barred from appearing in Hungary and earned his living in Western Europe.

In 1962, he won the European middleweight title and made four successful defenses before retiring two years later, unbeaten after what he said were “approximately 30 fights” but without the world title attempt of which he dreamed.

“I was one step away from a world title shot but it would have meant going to America and my government didn’t approve,” Papp said in an interview. “I think it was just jealousy. I was earning more money than most of them. There was a lot of antagonism.”

Papp said being banned from appearing in his own country left a deeper wound that, even now, has not completely healed.

“Put yourself in my shoes, the most outstanding boxer in the history of Hungary and I never got a chance to appear as a pro before my own people,” Papp said. “Now they are bringing in western boxers to do what I was denied.”

Papp was referring to the Feb. 18 International Boxing Federation welterweight championship between Simon Brown and Jorge Maysonet in Budapest.

Jamaican-born Brown, from Washington, D.C., stopped Puerto Rico’s Maysonet in three rounds to retain the title. The contest was the first pro boxing show ever staged in an Eastern Bloc country and the first world title inside Eastern Europe.

Papp, who was at ringside, said: “I never thought this could happen in my lifetime. When they didn’t let me box here, I couldn’t imagine they would open the door to others. But this is a marvelous step in the right direction.’

Gabor Deak, Hungary’s sports minister, says Papp was a victim of the Cold War anti-Western ideology imposed by the Warsaw Pact around the time of the boxer’s heyday.

“Hungarian competitors were not supported if they wanted to compete professionally,” Deak said. “The limits of ideology were quite strong. Now the ideology has changed. We like to think that we, in Hungary, are thinking internationally.”

Papp said he hopes this international approach will also embrace televised sports in Hungary. He said he could not compare the standards of today’s professional boxers with those of his era since he hadn’t seen enough fights to judge.

“I’ve only seen highlights of Mike Tyson’s fights,” Papp said. “I’m never sure when the various world titles are taking place. We need more information about schedules and more television exposure.”