Lucian Popescu

Lucian Popescu
Born	(1912-01-12)January 12, 1912 Bucharest, Romania
Died	December 23, 1982(1982-12-23) (aged 70) Romania
Nationality	Romanian
Other names	The Chocolate Boy
Statistics
Weight(s)	Featherweight
Boxing record
Total fights	76
Wins	49
Wins by KO	13
Losses	13
Draws	13
No contests	1

Lucian Popescu (12 January 1912 in Bucharest – 9 December 1982) was a Romanian boxer who won European titles in three different classes. Nicknamed Chocolate Boy ("băiatul de ciocolată"), he is considered to be the best Romanian boxer between the two world wars. Making his amateur debut on 23 December 1927, he became national champion in the flyweight class in 1928. When he was 17, he decided to turn pro and won his first match against a German boxer. On 7 June 1930, in Bucharest, he challenged flyweight European title holder Kid Oliva, a Frenchman. Having Umberto Lancia as his cornerman, Popescu won his first European belt. Later, he would win two more European belts in 1931 in the bantamweight class (cornermen Constantin Nour and Marcu Spankow), and in 1939 in the featherweight class. After he retired as a boxer he became a trainer at the "Progresul" boxing club in Bucharest, where he had among his disciples European amateur champions Gheorghe Negrea and Aurel Dumitrescu. He died on 9 December 1982.

Awards

• National Sport Award ("Premiul național al sporturilor")
• Honored Trainer ("Antrenor emerit")