Laszlo Papp, 77; First Boxer to Win Three Olympic Gold Medals

Laszlo Papp, the first boxer to win three Olympic gold medals, died Thursday after a long illness, the Hungarian Boxing Federation said. He was 77.

Papp won the middleweight gold at the 1948 Games, and light-middleweight golds in 1952 and 1956.

Two Cuban heavyweights, Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon, later matched Papp’s feat of three Olympic boxing titles.

Papp was famous for his devastating left hook -- though he was right-handed.

Born March 25, 1926, in a poor working-class district of Budapest, Hungary, he got his love of the sport from his father, an amateur boxer who died when Papp was 11.

In 1957, Papp received permission from the authorities to turn pro and became the first professional boxer from a communist country. He won the European middleweight title in 1962, but the government refused to allow him to fight for the world title.

Papp then gave up his European title and never boxed again professionally. His pro record was 26-0-3 with 15 knockouts.

In 1989, the World Boxing Council named Papp an honorary world champion, and two years later it designated him the world’s best amateur and pro middleweight boxer of all time. Papp later was a coach for Hungary’s Olympic team.