Thomas Peter Rademacher (November 20, 1928 – June 4, 2020) was an American heavyweight boxer. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, he was a gold medalist at the 1956 Olympics. Rademacher became the only person to challenge for the world heavyweight championship in his first professional bout when he faced

Floyd Patterson Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in his ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

on August 22, 1957. He compiled a 15-7-1 record over 23 professional bouts. A former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player at

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, Rademacher took up boxing as a form of rehabilitation during his recovery from

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Si ...

, which he contracted in military school.

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

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

(he lost in 1950 to

Zora Folley Zora "Bell" Folley (May 27, 1931 – July 7, 1972) was an American heavyweight boxing, boxer who was a top 10 contender for eleven years in a row from 1956 to 1966 and a nine-time top 5 contender throughout his career, reaching a peak as number ...

, who was his frequent opponent throughout his boxing career), and the US Amateur Championship as a

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 ...

in 1953—avenging his earlier loss to Folley. He captured the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Golden Gloves, the All-

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

championship, and the

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championship in 1956, before qualifying for the Olympic team. At the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, he captured a gold medal in the heavyweight division and served as the U.S. flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team for

Professional career

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

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 Sick's Stadium, also known as Sick's Seattle Stadium and later as Sicks' Stadium, was a baseball Baseball park, park in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. It was located in Rainier Valley, ...

in Seattle, was refereed by former light-heavyweight champion

Tommy Loughran Thomas Patrick Loughran (November 29, 1902 – July 7, 1982) was an American professional boxer and the former World Light Heavyweight Champion. Statistical boxing website BoxRec lists Loughran as the #7 ranked light heavyweight of all tim ...

, who himself had contended for the heavy crown once, vs.

Primo Carnera Primo Carnera (; 26 October 1906 – 29 June 1967) was an Italian professional boxer and wrestler who achieved international fame during the 1930s. He reigned as the boxing World Heavyweight Champion from 29 June 1933 to 14 June 1934. He won ...

, in 1934. Rademacher dropped Patterson in round two, but Patterson recovered and knocked Rademacher down seven times, defeating him by a

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

in round six. Legendary boxing promoter Jack Hurley promoted the match. Rademacher fought

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 ...

, George Chuvalo, Buddy Turman, and the former world light heavyweight champion,

Archie Moore Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional Boxing, boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (1952 – 1962). He had one of the longest profe ...

. 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.

Personal life

Rademacher had Finnish ancestry; his maternal grandparents were immigrants from

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. He was married to Margaret and had a daughter Susan (born c. 1954–1955). 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. Rademacher died in

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( west) and Cleveland ( east). At the 2020 United Stat ...

on June 4, 2020, at the age of 91. Goul, Matt (June 6, 2020
Olympic boxing champion Pete Rademacher, 91, dies
cleveland.com His brain was donated for medical research.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Alternate record site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rademacher, Pete 1928 births 2020 deaths Boxers from Washington (state) Heavyweight boxers Washington State Cougars football players American football offensive linemen People from Yakima County, Washington Players of American football from Washington (state) Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for the United States Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics American male boxers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing American people of Finnish descent United States Army soldiers Yakima Valley College alumni 20th-century American sportsmen