Willie Pep
Pep, c. 1950 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
Nickname | Will o' the Wisp |
| Born | Guglielmo Papaleo September 19, 1922 Middletown, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | November 23, 2006 (aged 84) Rocky Hill, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) |
| Weight | Featherweight |
| Boxing career | |
| Reach | 68 in (173 cm) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 241 |
| Wins | 229 |
| Win by KO | 65 |
| Losses | 11 |
| Draws | 1 |
Guglielmo Papaleo (September 19, 1922 – November 23, 2006; better known as Willie Pep) was an American professional boxer who held the World Featherweight Championship twice between the years of 1942 and 1950.
Papaleo was born in Middletown, Connecticut to an Italian family: his father, Salvatore, was from Rosolini, Sicily, Italy, and his mother, Maria Marchese, was from nearby Melilli, Sicily, Italy.
Pep boxed a total of 1,956 rounds in the 241 bouts during his 26-year career, a considerable number of rounds and bouts even for a fighter of his era. His final record was 229–11–1 with 65 knockouts. Pep, known for his speed, finesse and elusiveness, is considered to be one of the best fighters of the 20th century; after his 199th win, Kid Campeche described his experience by saying, "Fighting Willie Pep is like trying to stomp out a grass fire." Pep is widely considered one of the greatest defensive boxers of all time.
Pep was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Pep was voted as the No. 1 featherweight of the 20th century by the Associated Press and ranked the No. 1 featherweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization in 2005. He is currently ranked by BoxRec as the greatest featherweight boxer of all time.