Heinz Neuhaus (14 April 1926 – 6 April 1998) 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

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 1950s.

Career

Born in

Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geogr ...

, Neuhaus made his professional debut on 29 May 1949 with a points win over Herbert Thiele. He remained unbeaten in his first 18 fights and in October 1950 challenged

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, ...

for the German (BDB) heavyweight title, the fight ending in a draw.

European Title

A further seven fights without a loss, including a draw with Johnny Williams, led to a challenge for the

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

European heavyweight title held by

Karel Sys Karel Sys (14 February 1914 – 19 June 1990) was a Belgian boxer who having started his professional career at welterweight went on to become heavyweight champion of Europe on two occasions, winning the title in both 1943 and 1952. Career Sys ...

in March 1952. Neuhaus won the fight to become European champion. Neuhaus and Sys met again two months later, without the title at stake, this time Sys inflicting the first defeat of Neuhaus's career. In July 1952, Neuhaus defended his European title against ten Hoff with the latter's German title also at stake; Neuhaus won by first-round knockout. He successfully defended both titles in November against Wilson Kohlbrecher. In March 1953, Neuhaus was rated by American magazine ''

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'' as 6th best heavyweight in the world, rising to fourth in November 1954. He made a further defence of the European title against Sys in August 1953, but lost for the second time in his career in November that year when he was knocked out in the fourth round by Niño Valdés. He returned in January 1954 with a fourth-round knockout of Belgian champion Piet Wilde. He made a fourth successful defence of the European title in October 1954, knocking out Kurt Schiegl in the third round. In April 1955, Neuhaus was convicted of reckless driving while drunk and inflicting bodily injury, fined 1,500

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, banned from driving for six months, and sentenced to four weeks in prison. He lost the European title in his fifth defence, beaten on points by Franco Cavicchi in June 1955 in front of 60,000 spectators at the

Palazzetto dello Sport The Palazzetto dello Sport (literally "Small Sport Palace"), also less commonly known as the PalaTizianoBologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. He faced Cavicchi again three months later, winning via disqualification, but the title was not at stake.

Fading Away

In November 1955 Neuhaus lost his German title when he was beaten on points by Gerhard Hecht. He unsuccessfully challenged Cavicchi for the European title in July 1956, but regained his German title from Hecht in November. In February 1957 he outpointed

Brian London Brian Sidney Harper (19 June 1934 – 23 June 2021), better known by the ring name Brian London, was an English professional boxer who competed from 1955 to 1970. He held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight title from 1958 to 1959, and twi ...

, and two months later successfully defended his German title against Hans Friedrich. He lost the title in September when he was stopped in the eighth round by Hans Kalbfell. In 1958 he fought a draw with

Henry Cooper Sir Henry Cooper (3 May 19341 May 2011) was a British heavyweight boxer. He was undefeated in British and Commonwealth heavyweight championship contests for twelve years and held the European heavyweight title for three years. In a 1963 fi ...

, beat

Joey Maxim Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli (March 28, 1922 – June 2, 2001) was an American professional boxer. He was the World Light Heavyweight Champion from 1950 to 1952. He took the ring-name Joey Maxim from the Maxim gun, the world's first self-acti ...

, and lost to

Ingemar Johansson Jens Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson (; 22 September 1932 – 30 January 2009) was a Swedish professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1963. He held the world heavyweight title from 1959 to 1960, and was the fifth heavyweight champion born outside ...

,Brooks, Ken (2015) ''Ingemar Johansson: Swedish Heavyweight Boxing Champion'', McFarland & Co., , p. 60 before attempting to regain the German title in September. Defending champion Albert Westphal stopped him in the sixth round, and Neuhaus retired after the fight. He ended his career with a record of 42 wins from 58 fights.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neuhaus, Heinz 1926 births 1998 deaths German male boxers Heavyweight boxers Sportspeople from Iserlohn European Boxing Union champions 20th-century German sportsmen