Just how good do you think Laszlo Papp could have been as a pro? Obviously he was beyond stellar as an amateur and was 27-0 as a pro but he never got to go as far as he could have because of the political situation at the time. Related to this, how much did the boxing world miss out on thanks to the inability of so many Communist-bloc fighters to go pro? EDIT: Communist-Bloc* for the topic title of course.
Looking at the subject of your thread, S, thought you'd appreciate this incident: Boxing teams in a gym have distinct personalities, some gregarious 'n outgoing, some focused on the work, but Eastern Euros are like a police state, suspicious 'n tight-lipped. One day at Wild Card a new Eastern Euro heavy came to train 'n I watched him spar. His coach gave me a big wave 'n smile, which was so outta character, I kept lookin' around, sure it was meant for someone else. He pointed at me to the other members of his team, 'n they were all smiles and waving. Think Charles Bronsons turned to Roberto Benignis. After the sparring session, the coach came over 'n gave me a bear hug, "Laszlo!" He'd mistaken me for Laszlo Papp, the great Hungarian Olympian. Soon as he learned I wasn't, the Iron Curtain came down.
It's a shame that Eastern Euro ex commie bloc fighters throughout history have demonstrated very little of the flair, fluid approach and inventive technical excellence of their football players. As a follower of both sports its interesting to note the exteme difference in mentality between the competitors of both in these countries.their approach to boxing couldnt be more rigid and mechanical in comparison, which i find rather unique.
An interesting comparison for sure but we at least got to see top communist teams compete against the rest of the world, often with some fine results (see: Steaua, Red Star, etc.) We only have amateur records to compare with boxing and while they were stellar at that amateur success doesn't translate directly to pro success of course.
