Pete Rademacher

Thomas Peter Rademacher (November 20, 1928 – June 4, 2020) was an American heavyweight boxer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As an amateur, he was a gold medalist at the 1956 Olympics.<ref name=fwsbxrlmt>Template:Cite news</ref> Rademacher became the only person to challenge for the world heavyweight championship in his first professional bout when he faced Floyd Patterson in Seattle on August 22, 1957.<ref name=ptgfpd>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=allovrxs>Template:Cite news</ref> He compiled a 15-7-1 record over 23 professional bouts.

A former college football player at Washington State,<ref name=fwsbxrlmt/><ref name=ptgfpd/> Rademacher took up boxing as a form of rehabilitation during his recovery from rheumatic fever, which he contracted in military school.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Amateur career

In his amateur career, Rademacher won 72 bouts and lost 7. He won a series of tournaments, including the 1949 and 1951–1953 Seattle Golden Gloves (he lost in 1950 to Zora Folley, who was his frequent opponent throughout his boxing career), and the US Amateur Championship as a heavyweight in 1953—avenging his earlier loss to Folley.

He captured the Chicago Golden Gloves, the All-Army championship, and the Service championship in 1956, before qualifying for the Olympic team. At the Olympics, he captured a gold medal in the heavyweight division and served as the U.S. flag bearer at the closing ceremony.<ref name=sr/>

1956 Olympic results

• Round of 16: bye
• Quarterfinal: Defeated Josef Němec (Czechoslovakia) KO 2
• Semifinal: Defeated Daan Bekker (South Africa) KO 3
• Final: Defeated Lev Mukhin (Soviet Union) KO 1 (won gold medal)

Rademacher also attended college, playing offensive line on the football team for Washington State.

Professional career

File:Pete Rademacher and Zora Folley 1958.jpg

Rademacher and Folley in 1958

After winning the gold medal, Rademacher started saying that he would be able to become world heavyweight champion in his first professional fight. He made his belief public and was able to lure world Heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson into defending his crown against him in his professional debut. It is the only time to date that a fighter making his professional debut has challenged for the world heavyweight title.

The bout, at Sick's Stadium in Seattle, was refereed by former light-heavyweight champion Tommy Loughran, who himself had contended for the heavy crown once, vs. Primo Carnera, in 1934. Rademacher dropped Patterson in round two, but Patterson recovered and knocked Rademacher down seven times, defeating him by a knockout in round six.<ref name=boxrec/><ref name=sr/><ref name=allovrxs/> Legendary boxing promoter Jack Hurley promoted the match.

Rademacher fought Zora Folley, Brian London, George Chuvalo, Buddy Turman, and the former world light heavyweight champion, Archie Moore. He lost to Moore, Folley and London but beat Chuvalo, LaMar Clark, and Turman, among others. His last bout was with former world middleweight champion Carl "Bobo" Olson, whom he beat by decision.<ref name=boxrec/>

Personal life

Rademacher had Finnish ancestry; his maternal grandparents were immigrants from Finland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was married to Margaret and had a daughter Susan (born c. 1954–1955).<ref>File:Wife and daughter of Pete Rademacher 1957.jpg</ref> In addition to boxing, he was a salesman and inventor. He was president of the company Kiefer-McNeil which was founded by fellow Olympian, Adolph Kiefer.<ref name=sr/> Rademacher died in Sandusky, Ohio on June 4, 2020, at the age of 91.<ref name ="Obit">Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref><ref>Goul, Matt (June 6, 2020) Olympic boxing champion Pete Rademacher, 91, dies. cleveland.com</ref> His brain was donated for medical research.<ref name ="Obit"/>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
23	Template:Yes2Win	15–7–1	Template:Flagicon Bobo Olson	UD	10	Apr 3, 1962	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
22	Template:No2Loss	14–7–1	Template:Flagicon Karl Mildenberger	PTS	10	Jan 20, 1962	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	14–6–1	Template:Flagicon Buddy Turman	TKO	9 (10)	Nov 30, 1961	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
20	Template:No2Loss	13–6–1	Template:Flagicon Archie Moore	TKO	6 (10), Template:Small	Oct 23, 1961	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
19	Template:No2Loss	13–5–1	Template:Flagicon George Logan	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Aug 17, 1961	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
18	Template:No2Loss	13–4–1	Template:Flagicon Doug Jones	KO	5 (10), Template:Small	Apr 29, 1961	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	13–3–1	Template:Flagicon Dan Vanderford	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Apr 14, 1961	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	12–3–1	Template:Flagicon Harvey Taylor	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Feb 22, 1961	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	11–3–1	Template:Flagicon Donnie Fleeman	UD	10	Jan 23, 1961	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	10–3–1	Template:Flagicon Willi Besmanoff	UD	10	Dec 13, 1960	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	9–3–1	Template:Flagicon Kirk Barrow	Template:Abbr	10	Dec 8, 1960	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	8–3–1	Template:Flagicon George Chuvalo	UD	10	Jul 19, 1960	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	7–3–1	Template:Flagicon LaMar Clark	TKO	10 (10), Template:Small	Jun 29, 1960	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
10	Template:No2Loss	6–3–1	Template:Flagicon Brian London	KO	7 (10), Template:Small	Apr 26, 1960	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
9	Template:DrawDraw	6–2–1	Template:Flagicon Ulli Ritter	PTS	10	Apr 8, 1960	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	6–2	Template:Flagicon Ulli Nitzschke	KO	7 (10)	Feb 6, 1960	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	5–2	Template:Flagicon Johnny York	Template:Abbr	8	Dec 9, 1959	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	4–2	Template:Flagicon Buddy Keener	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Nov 12, 1959	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	3–2	Template:Flagicon Calvin Butler	Template:Abbr	10	Sep 29, 1959	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	2–2	Template:Flagicon Ralph Schneider	Template:Abbr	3 (10)	Sep 17, 1959	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	1–2	Template:Flagicon Tommy Thompson	Template:Abbr	5 (10)	Aug 23, 1959	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
2	Template:No2Loss	0–2	Template:Flagicon Zora Folley	KO	4 (10), Template:Small	Jul 25, 1958	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
1	Template:No2Loss	0–1	Template:Flagicon Floyd Patterson	Template:Abbr	6 (15), Template:Small	Aug 22, 1957	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small

See also

• Rafael Lovera
• Joves De La Puz
• Joko Arter

External links

• Template:Sports links
• Alternate record site