Gustav Scholz

Gustav Scholz
Scholz (right) defeated American Al Andrews on 31 March 1954
Statistics
Real name	Gustav Wilhelm Hermann Scholz
Nickname(s)	Bubi Scholz
Nationality	German
Born	(1930-04-12)12 April 1930 Berlin
Died	21 August 2000(2000-08-21) (aged 70) Berlin
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	96
Wins	88
Wins by KO	46
Losses	2
Draws	6

Gustav Wilhelm Hermann "Bubi" Scholz (12 April 1930 – 21 August 2000) was a German boxer. He was popularly called Bubi. In the 1950s and early 1960s he won the German National Boxing Championship and European Boxing Championship several times. After his retirement in 1964, he acted in six films and several TV series. Scholz married twice, and was imprisoned for three years on charges of murdering his first wife. He developed dementia and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in his later life. He attempted suicide twice and died at the age of 70 due to cardiac arrest.

Gustav Wilhelm Hermann Scholz was born to a blacksmith and a housewife in Berlin. In 1944 he began an apprenticeship as a mechanic, and after the end of the Second World War he was trained as chef.

In 1947, Scholz attended a boxing school in Berlin. On 8 October 1948, he was a last-minute replacement for a professional match against Werner Eichler, though he had not previously competed as an amateur, and he won the fight. Eicher was injured so badly that he had to postpone his wedding which was scheduled to be held the next day. Scholz logged his first defeat on 10 March 1958 against Charles Humez.

On 19 May 1951, Scholz won a points victory against defending champion Walter Schneider and became the German champion in the welterweight category for the first time. He defended his title successfully against Charles Oechsle and Leo Starosch in 1952. At the end of 1952, Scholz put his championship title in the welterweight division and stepped down from the middleweight category. In 1954 he appeared in Madison Square Garden in his first U.S. match, defeating American boxer Al Andrews. In 1955 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which forced him to take a one and a half year sabbatical.

After recovering from his illness, he won a knockout match against defending champion Peter Müller in a 29 June 1957 German middleweight championship. He defended the title with another knockout victory in May 1958 against Max Resch. On 4 October 1958, he defeated Charles Humez in Berlin's Olympiastadion by technical knockout in the 12th round, and thus won the European Championship in the middleweight division. Humez announced his retirement on 18 January 1989. Scholz successfully defended both titles against Hans Werner Wohlers (by point victory in July 1959) and against Peter Müller (by technical knockout in the first round in November 1959). He successfully defended his European title against Andre Drille in December 1959. In the same year, he published the book Ring Free with memories of the beginnings of his career.