Legendary boxing matches – Legendary boxers: The first boxer, who won Olympic gold medal and world title in pro boxing

Author: Zizi

There are matches, which are never to be forgotten, and there are boxing icons, who are going to stay with us for eternity.

The Olympic Games have their special atmosphere and not just for a boxer. For an athlete it is the biggest success to be an Olympic champion. In our case, after this triumph the next challenge could be the professional career and the world championship title.

The first fighter, who won both titles, is Frankie Genaro or Fidel LaBarba, depending on how we take a look at this. Genaro won the Olympic gold medal in 1920, in Antwerp but he had to wait until 1928 to have a hold of both titles, when he became the world flyweight champion of the National Boxing Association (NBA). 

Fidel LaBarba won his Olympic gold medal four years later, in 1924, in Paris, but he defeated Elky Clark to win the vacant flyweight championship of the world in 1927, so he became world champion earlier than Genaro, although LaBarba became Olympic champion four years after Genaro.

Source of the article: theguardian.com