Lucian Popescu
Born(1912-01-12)January 12, 1912
Bucharest, Romania
DiedDecember 23, 1982(1982-12-23) (aged 70)
Romania
NationalityRomania Romanian
Other namesThe Chocolate Boy
Statistics
Weight(s)Featherweight
Boxing record
Total fights76
Wins49
Wins by KO13
Losses13
Draws13
No contests1

Lucian Popescu (12 January 1912 in Bucharest – 9 December 1982) was a Romanian boxer who won European titles in three different classes.

Nicknamed Chocolate Boy ("băiatul de ciocolată"), he is considered to be the best Romanian boxer between the two world wars.[1]

Making his amateur debut on 23 December 1927, he became national champion in the flyweight class in 1928. When he was 17, he decided to turn pro and won his first match against a German boxer.

On 7 June 1930, in Bucharest, he challenged flyweight European title holder Kid Oliva, a Frenchman. Having Umberto Lancia as his cornerman, Popescu won his first European belt. Later, he would win two more European belts in 1931 in the bantamweight class[2] (cornermen Constantin Nour and Marcu Spankow),[3] and in 1939 in the featherweight class.[citation needed]

After he retired as a boxer he became a trainer at the "Progresul" boxing club in Bucharest, where he had among his disciples European amateur champions Gheorghe Negrea and Aurel Dumitrescu.

He died on 9 December 1982.

Professional boxing record

49 Wins (13 knockouts, 36 decisions), 13 Losses (4 knockouts, 9 decisions), 13 Draws, 1 No contest[1] Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes Loss 1-0-1 Petre Brătescu RTD 1945-07-15 Romania Draw 1-0 Petre Brătescu PTS 1945-04-28 Romania Win 6-4-4 Gheorghe Popescu PTS 1945-04-15 Romania Win 24-14-6 Ion Sandu PTS 12 (12) 1943-08-09 Bucharest, Romania Won Romanian lightweight title. Loss 60-3-4 Gino Bondavalli PTS 15 (15) 1942-05-31 Reggio Emilia, Italy For EBU (European) featherweight title. Draw 0-1 Constantin David PTS 12 (12) 1942-04-26 Romania Loss 0-0 Constantin David PTS 10 (10) 1942-03-08 Romania Loss 49-18-8 Ernst Weiss PTS 15 (15) 1941-05-30 Engelmann Arena, Vienna, Austria For EBU (European) featherweight title. Win 24-13-6 Ion Sandu PTS 10 (10) 1941-05-24 Bucharest, Romania Win 9-6-4 Stefan Eisenreich PTS 10 (10) 1940-10-05 Belgrade, Serbia Win 55-21-10 Gino Cattaneo PTS 10 (10) 1939-07-01 Bucharest, Romania Win 32-12-6 Phil Dolhem PTS 15 (15) 1939-06-03 Arenel Romane, Bucharest, Romania Won EBU (European) featherweight title. Win 0-0 Tommy Carr PTS 8 (8) 1938-01-27 Eldorado Stadium, Edinburgh-Leith, United Kingdom Loss 32-5 Housine Caid PTS 10 (10) 1938-12-08 Salle Wagram, Paris, France Draw 2-3-2 Gheorghe Popescu PTS 10 (10) 1938-07-16 Bucharest, Romania Draw 16-4-3 Rene Taysse PTS 10 (10) 1938-01-07 Élysée Montmartre, Paris, France Win 6-1-3 Vasile Stoian PTS 1938-01-01 Romania Draw 0-0 Pachi Martinez PTS 1937-10-22 Draw 1-2-0 Gheorghe Popescu PTS 1936-09-04 Romania NC 4-3-4 Vince Dell'Orto NC 1936-07-26 Bucharest, Romania Win 0-5-3 Ion Mihail KO 3 (10) 1936-06-06 Bucharest, Romania Won Romanian featherweight title. Loss 4-3-1 Achille Wimme PTS 10 (10) 1935-05-25 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Loss 7-3-5 Aurel Toma PTS 10 (10) 1935-05-15 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Win 0-0 Gheorghe Popescu PTS 10 (10) 1934-08-23 Ploiești, Romania Won Romanian featherweight title. Win 1-6-3 Mielu Marinescu PTS 10 (10) 1934-07-21 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Win 0-1-1 Traian Dumitrescu PTS 10 (10) 1934-07-18 Stadion Dragoș Vodă, Bucharest, Romania Loss 89-6-2 Jose Girones KO 7 (15) 1933-11-22 Teatro Circo Olympia, Barcelona, Spain For EBU (European) featherweight title. Win 12-1-5 Richard Stegemann PTS 10 (10) 1933-09-01 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Win 4-5-4 Gheorghe Stamate PTS 10 (10) 1933-06-24 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Win 11-5-10 Wilhelm Bartneck PTS 10 (10) 1933-05-09 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Win 1-4 Mihail Covaci RTD 10 (10) 1933-03-31 Bucharest, Romania Loss 44-23-10 Nicolas Petit-Biquet PTS 10 (10) 1933-02-25 Palais des Sports, Brussels, Belgium Loss 41-11-11 Guy Bonaugure PTS 10 (10) 1933-01-07 Paris-Ring, Paris, France Draw 12-3-6 Hans Schiller PTS 10 (10) 1932-11-18 Bucharest, Romania Draw 1-3-2 Nelu Oprescu PTS 10 (10) 1932-09-24 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania For Romanian featherweight title. Win 9-7-7 Josef Pospischil KO 5 (10) 1932-07-30 Bucharest, Romania Win 4-4-4 Gheorghe Stamate RTD 7 (10) 1932-07-23 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Won Romanian featherweight title. Draw 21-12-6 Johnny Alphonse Edwards PTS 10 (10) 1932-06-19 Bucharest, Romania Win 0-2 Marin Plaeșu PTS 10 (10) 1932-06-04 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Win 15-6-6 Georg Pfitzner KO 2 (10) 1932-05-21 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Draw 9-7-1 Mielu Doculescu PTS 10 (10) 1932-05-11 Bucharest, Romania Win 9-6-1 Mielu Doculescu PTS 10 (10) 1932-04-24 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Loss 40-14-5 Domenico Bernasconi KO 5 (15) 1932-03-19 Milan, Italy For EBU (European) bantamweight title. Loss 42-15-4 Eugène Huat RTD 5 (10) 1932-02-08 Palais des Sports, Paris, France Win 4-3-2 Gheorghe Stamate PTS 1932-01-07 Romania Win 35-14-10 Julien Pannecoucke KO 4 (10) 1931-12-21 Palais des Sports, Paris, France Win 41-6-3 Carlos Flix PTS 15 (15) 1931-09-19 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Won EBU (European) bantamweight title. Win 4-2-2 Gheorghe Stamate PTS 10 (10) 1931-08-29 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Win 18-6-5 Emile Degand PTS 10 (10) 1931-07-11 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Win 40-15-6 Nicolas Petit-Biquet PTS 10 (10) 1931-06-06 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Win 12-2-4 Georg Pfitzner KO 2 (10) 1931-05-21 Bucharest, Romania Loss 43-8-5 Jackie Brown PTS 15 (15) 1931-05-04 Kings Hall, Manchester, United Kingdom For EBU (European) flyweight title. Win 43-16-8 Francois Biron PTS 10 (10) 1931-04-13 Bucharest, Romania Win 4-1-2 Gheorghe Stamate RTD 1 (12) 1931-02-14 Sidoli Circus, Bucharest, Romania Win 9-1-1 Carlo Cavagnoli PTS 10 (10) 1930-11-15 Sidoli Circus, Bucharest, Romania Win 20-1-1 Valentin Angelmann PTS 10 (10) 1930-10-18 Sidoli Circus, Bucharest, Romania Win 33-18-11 Rene Chalenge PTS 15 (15) 1930-08-16 Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania Retained EBU (European) flyweight title. Win 32-4-2 Kid Oliva RTD 10 (15) 1930-06-07 Ramcomit Hall, Bucharest, Romania Won EBU (European) flyweight title. Win 0-0 Gheorghe Begheș KO 2 (8) 1930-04-12 Sidoli Circus, Bucharest, Romania Draw 4-0-1 Gheorghe Stamate PTS 10 (10) 1930-02-22 Bucharest, Romania Loss 3-0-1 Gheorghe Stamate PTS 10 (10) 1929-12-14 Bucharest, Romania For Romanian bantamweight title. Win 15-37-7 Rene Gabes PTS 1929-11-17 Bucharest, Romania Win 30-13-10 Rene Chalange PTS 10 (10) 1929-09-29 Sidoli Circus, Bucharest, Romania Draw 15-33-6 Rene Gabes PTS 10 (10) 1929-08-10 Central Sporting Club, Paris, France Draw 1-0 Gheorghe Stamate PTS 10 (10) 1929-08 Bucharest, Romania Win 0-0-1 Werner Hermansson PTS 6 (6) 1929-05-09 Bucharest, Romania Win 2-3 Mielu Doculescu PTS 3 (3) 1929-04-27 Bucharest, Romania Win 1-2 Mielu Doculescu PTS 3 (3) 1929-02-08 Bucharest, Romania Win 1-1 Dumitru Ivan PTS 3 (3) 1929-02-02 Bucharest, Romania Win 1-1 Mielu Doculescu PTS 3 (3) 1928-12-15 Bucharest, Romania Win 0-1 Marin Plaeșu PTS 3 (3) 1928-12-05 Romania Won Romanian flyweight title. Win 0-0 Gheoghe Gabor RTD 3 (6) 1928-11-14 Bucharest, Romania Win 0-1 Nelu Oprescu RTD 2 (6) 1928-05-09 Bucharest, Romania Win 0-0 Ion Bondac PTS 6 (6) 1928-02-02 Bucharest, Romania Win 0-1 Dumitru Popa KO 1 (6) 1928-01-13 Bucharest, Romania Win 0-0 Nelu Oprescu PTS 6 (6) 1927-12-23 Bucharest, Romania

Awards

References

  1. ^ "FIGURI DE LEGENDĂ: Lucian Popescu (1912 – 1982)" (in Romanian). Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  2. ^ "How Titles Changed Hands". The Straits Times. January 28, 1933. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  3. ^ "Lucian Popescu şi cele trei centuri europene" (in Romanian). Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  4. ^ "Pentru Lucian. După 73 de ani » Omagiul lui Ionel Teodoreanu pentru alt mare boxer, Lucian Popescu, publicat de Gazetă în 1939" (in Romanian). Retrieved April 10, 2014.
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