Willie Pep
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Name: Willie Pep
Alias: Will o' the Wisp
Birth Name: Guglielmo Papaleo
Hometown: Rocky Hill, Connecticut, USA
Birthplace: Middletown, Connecticut, USA
Died: 2006-11-23 (Age:84)
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 165cm
Reach: 173cm
Promoter: Record
Judge: Record
Referee: Record
Inspector: Record
Pro Boxer: Record
Amateur Boxer: Record
Manager: Lou Viscusi
Trainer: Bill Gore
Willie Pep Gallery
- Won his first 62 professional fights before losing a 10-round decision to former World Lightweight Champion Sammy Angott on March 19, 1943.
- Defeated Chalky Wright by a 15-round unanimous decision at the age of 20 to win the NYSAC World Featherweight Championship on November 20, 1942.
- Named The Ring Fighter of the Year for 1945.
- Defeated NBA World Featherweight Champion Sal Bartolo by a 12th-round knockout to become the Undisputed World Featherweight Champion on June 7, 1946.
- Was seriously injured in a plane crash in January 1947. The co-pilot and two passengers were killed.
- Had a record of 134-1-1 when he lost the World Featherweight Championship to Sandy Saddler by a 4th-round knockout on October 29, 1948. Pep defeated Saddler by a 15-round unanimous decision to regain the title on February 11, 1949. It was named The Ring Fight of the Year for 1949. Saddler regained the title from Pep by an 8th-round RTD on September 8, 1950, and successfully defended it against Pep with a 9th-round RTD on September 26, 1951. Their last fight was named the 6th dirtiest fight of all time by The Ring in 1997.
- Knocked out in two rounds by Lulu Perez on February 26, 1954. Many believe Pep took a dive. A late surge of betting on Perez moved the odds favoring him from 6-5 to 3½-1, and some bookmakers took the fight off the boards. A 1980 Inside Sports magazine article called "The Fix" said a boxer, identified as "The Champ," threw a fight against Lulu Perez in 1954 for $16,000. Pep filed a $75 million libel suit against Newsweek Inc., which owned Inside Sports. The jury deliberated for just 15 minutes and ruled against Pep.
- Retired in 1959, but returned to the ring in 1965 and fought ten more times before retiring for good at the age of 43.
- Elected to The Ring Hall of Fame in 1963.
- Elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
- Named the greatest featherweight of the century and the fifth greatest boxer of the century by the Associated Press in 1999.
- Named the greatest featherweight of all-time by The Ring in 1994 and 2002.
- Elected to the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010.
- Became a prominent referee and a deputy boxing commissioner for the state of Connecticut.
- Married six times. "All my wives were great housekeepers," he would say. "After every divorce, they kept the house."
- Suffered from Alzheimer's Disease in his final years and died at the West Hill Convalescent Home in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, on November 23, 2006.
- Video: In This Corner - Willie Pep
- Video Highlights
Professional Record
- May has defeated 9 opponents (5 by KO) in World Title fights.
- May has a record of 11-3 (5 KOs) in World Title fights.
- May has a record of 13-5 (2 KOs) against former, current or future world champions.
- Won against Chalky Wright (4 times), Jackie Wilson (twice), Sal Bartolo (3 times), Manuel Ortiz, Phil Terranova, Paddy DeMarco, Sandy Saddler.
- Lost against Sammy Angott, Sandy Saddler (3 times), Hogan (Kid) Bassey.
| Preceded by: Chalky Wright |
World Featherweight Champion 1942 Nov 20 – 1948 Oct 29 |
Succeeded by: Sandy Saddler |
| Preceded by: Sandy Saddler |
World Featherweight Champion 1949 Feb 11 – 1950 Sept 8 |
Succeeded by: Sandy Saddler |