Willie Pep

Guglielmo Papaleo (September 19, 1922 – November 23, 2006), better known as Willie Pep, was an American professional boxer who held the World Featherweight Championship twice between the years of 1942 and 1950. Known for his speed, finesse, and elusiveness, Pep is widely considered one of the greatest defensive boxers of all time. He was voted as the No. 1 featherweight of the 20th century by the Associated Press and ranked the No. 1 featherweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization in 2005. He is also currently ranked by BoxRec as the greatest featherweight boxer of all time. He boxed a total of 1,956 rounds in the 241 bouts during his 26-year career, a considerable number of rounds and bouts even for a fighter of his era. His final record was 229–11–1 with 65 knockouts; after his 199th win, opponent Kid Campeche described his experience by saying, "Fighting Willie Pep is like trying to stomp out a grass fire." Pep was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.