One of the most elusive fighters of all time would have been 100 years old today.
Willie Pep was born Guglielmo Papaleo on September 19, 1922, in Middletown, Conn. He began his professional career as a teenager in 1940 in his home state, where he compiled 25 consecutive wins before taking his performance to California and other more competitive settings.
Just two years into his career, he had already amassed a 41-0 record before taking on his first major step in former world title challenger Joey Archibald. Following that win, he racked up ten more wins to finally earn his first title shot against reigning Ring Featherweight Champion Chalky Wright. He defeated Wright in 15 rounds in October of that same year, 1942 (a year in which he fought an incredible 22 times) and proceeded to display his amazing defensive skills against the best fighters the division had to offer. to offer.
He dropped a 10-round decision against the great Sammy Angott in 1943 and then drew against arch-rival Jimmy McAlllister two years later, but aside from those little bumps in the road, he dominated the entire field for the first eight years of his career.
By the time he lost his belt to the all-time great Sandy Saddler in 1948 in what would have been his seventh defense, Pep had an astounding record of 134-1-1, an incredible feat. He regained the title from Saddler in a rematch the following year, only to lose it again in the final of a bitter rivalry that brought out the best (and worst) in both men. Pep managed to sneak past three defenders of his belt before handing it over to Saddler for good. He would later lose a fourth fight against Saddler, and all of his losses against him were by stoppage.
He continued to fight until 1966, averaging a dozen fights a year for most of those years. The final record of his 26-year career was an incredible 229–11–1 with 65 knockouts. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time, and one of (if not the) greatest featherweight of all time.
Pep passed away on November 23, 2006 at the age of 84. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its inaugural year in 1990.
Diego M. Morilla has been writing for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and other outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an electing member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest and is the moderator of The Ring’s women’s ratings panel. He served as editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com. Follow him on Twitter @MorillaBoxing
