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

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

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 edit

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 edit

  • National Sport Award ("Premiul național al sporturilor")[4]
  • Honored Trainer ("Antrenor emerit")

References edit

  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.