Arno Kölblin (9 October 1911 – 19 December 1988)Deutsche Schwergewichtseuropameister, Teil 1: Die Titelträger bis 1945
, boxen.de, 6 June 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2019 was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who was the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

champion of Germany and Europe in the 1930s.

Career

Born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

the son of businessman Otto Kölblin and Hedwig Kölblin (née Richter), Kölblin turned professional shortly after leaving school. He made his debut on 12 March 1931 with a points win over Hans Bischoff. In July that year he stopped former German heavyweight champion Ludwig Haymann in the seventh round. These were the only two wins from his first seven fights. The mixed results continued into 1934, Kölblin suffering losses to Vincenz Hower, Motzi Spakow, but three straight wins between June and October that year, including a win over

Hans Schönrath Hans Schönrath (8 November 1902 – 10 February 1945) was a German boxer who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics. He was born in Gronau and died near Pillau. He was drowned when the hospital ship SS ''General von Steuben'' sunk durin ...

led to a German heavyweight title fight against Hower, the defending champion winning comfortably on points. After a run of eight fights in which he only lost once (to

Adolf Heuser Adolf Heuser (3 October 1907 – 19 November 1988)

), he challenged Hower in August 1936 for the German heavyweight title; Kölblin knocked Hower out in the tenth round to become German champion. He successfully defended the title against Werner Selle and Erwin Klein, and in March 1937 challenged Pierre Charles for the IBU European heavyweight title at the

Deutschlandhalle Deutschlandhalle was an arena located in the Westend (Berlin), Westend neighbourhood of Berlin, Germany. It was inaugurated on 29 November 1935 by Adolf Hitler. The building was granted landmark status in 1995, but was demolished on 3 December 20 ...

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

. Kölblin won on points to add the European title to his German title. He successfully defended his German title against Hower in May 1937, but after losing to Eddie Phillips in a non-title fight in November 1937, lost the European title in March 1938 to Heinz Lazek after being disqualified in the second round at the Sportpalast in Schoeneberg for repeated low blows. In November 1938, he also lost the German title, losing on points to

Walter Neusel Walter Neusel (November 25, 1907 – October 3, 1964) was a German heavyweight boxer. During his career he held the distinction of being recognized as German Heavyweight Champion. Statistical boxing website BoxRec rates Neusel as the sixth best ...

. In August 1939 he was set to fight

Tommy Farr Thomas George Farr (12 March 1913 – 1 March 1986) was a Welsh boxer from Clydach Vale, Rhondda, nicknamed "The Tonypandy Terror". Prior to 1936, Farr boxed in the light heavyweight division, in which he was the Welsh champion. He became Br ...

in Wales, but with tensions growing between the UK and Germany, the Welsh branch of the

British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

refused to recommend that the Ministry of Labour give him a permit to fight, prompting criticism from the German press, who saw it as a political decision. He beat Lazek in November 1939, and June 1940 challenged Neusel in an attempt to regain the German title, but Neusel again won on points. Kölblin was out of the ring after November 1942 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but returned to boxing after the war, winning eight of his ten post-war fights, but losing two, including an unsuccessful challenge for

Hein ten Hoff Hein ten Hoff (19 November 1919 – 13 June 2003) was a German boxer and ''Präsident des Bundes Deutscher Berufsboxer'' (BDB). He was the son of a Dutch peasant, who left The Netherlands for Germany (Oldenburg Land) in the end of the 1930s, ...

's German title. His final fight was a fourth-round knockout of Heinz Klose in May 1950. He retired with a record of 50 wins from 78 fights, with 20 losses and 8 draws. In the early 1950s, Kölblin worked as a coach in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. In 1956 he fled to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, where he continued to work as a boxing trainer and later a manager. Kölblin died on 19 December 1998, at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolblin, Arno 1911 births 1998 deaths German male boxers Heavyweight boxers Boxers from Berlin 20th-century German sportsmen