Pete Rademacher
| Pete Rademacher | |||||||||||||
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| Statistics | |||||||||||||
| Real name | Thomas Peter Rademacher | ||||||||||||
| Rated at | Heavyweight | ||||||||||||
| Nationality |
 American
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| Born |
November 20, 1928 Tieton, Washington, U.S. |
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| Stance | Orthodox | ||||||||||||
| Boxing record | |||||||||||||
| Total fights | 23 | ||||||||||||
| Wins | 15 | ||||||||||||
| Wins by KO | 8 | ||||||||||||
| Losses | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Draws | 1 | ||||||||||||
| No contests | 0 | ||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Thomas Peter "Pete" Rademacher (born November 20, 1928) is a former boxer who made boxing history by being the only man to fight for the world heavyweight championship in his first professional fight. Rademacher first began boxing as a form of rehabilitation during his recovery from rheumatic fever, which he contracted in military school.
In his amateur career, Rademacher had 79 fights, going 72-7. He won a series of tournaments, including the 1949, 1951, 1952, and 1953 Seattle Golden Gloves (he lost in 1950 to Zora Folley, who he would face several times in his career), and the US Amateur Championship as a heavyweight in 1953—avenging his earlier loss to Folley. He also captured the Chicago Golden Gloves, the All-Army championship, and the Service championship in 1956, before qualifying for the Olympic team. In the Olympics, held in Melbourne, he captured a gold medal in the heavyweight division.
Rademacher also attended college, playing offensive line on the football team for Washington State.
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 Floyd Patterson into defending his crown against the debutant Rademacher. It is the only time to date that a fighter making his professional debut has challenged for the world heavyweight title. The bout was refereed by former lightheavyweight champion Tommy Loughran, who himself had contended for the heavy crown once, vs. Primo Carnera, in 1934.
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