Horst Witterstein

Horst Witterstein medal table
boxer
Federal Republic of Germany
European Championship
silver	1955 Berlin	Heavy

Horst Witterstein (born February 6, 1930 in Mainz , † July 14, 2018 in Kempten (Allgäu) ) was a German boxer . He was vice European champion of amateurs in 1955 in the heavyweight division.

Life

Horst Witterstein grew up in Kempten (Allgäu) and started boxing there as a teenager. He first drew attention to himself in 1950 when he took 2nd place at the southern Bavarian heavyweight championships. Horst Witterstein then developed relatively quickly into one of the best German heavyweight boxers in the amateur field. He was physically fit and well trained technically.

In 1951 he finished 2nd at the Bavarian ranking tournament in Nuremberg behind the Munich Hermann Schreibauer , who was to become one of his main competitors in the next few years.

In 1952 he defeated Hermann Schreibauer for the first time in the final of the southern Bavarian championship in Rosenheim , and in Munich he won the final of the Bavarian championship against Adam Stenger from Coburg . A little later he also won the finals of the southern German championship in Weinheim . Here he beat Scheuermann from Mannheim . In the semifinals of the German championship he defeated Heinz Bettendorf from Frankfurt am Main and in the final he defeated the vice-European champion of 1951 Edgar Gorgas from Essen on points. In June 1952 the Olympic elimination of the German amateur boxers took place. Horst Witterstein met Edgar Gorgas again. He delivered this an even fight, but lost it on points.

In 1953 Horst Witterstein was defeated in the final of the Bavarian championship against Karl Kistner from Nuremberg and was therefore unable to take part in the German championships. In a comparison match between Bavaria and a central German selection, he fought against Preuss from East Berlin, a draw.

In 1954 Horst Witterstein was again Bavarian champion by winning points over Karl Kistner. At the German championship he won in the semifinals over Willy Lahr from Rüsselsheim on points, but was surprisingly defeated in the final against Uwe Jansen from Hamburg , with whose speed he could not cope.

The year 1955 saw a perfectly prepared Horst Witterstein. At the German championships this year he won a. a. in the semifinals over Abraham Rosenberg from Frankfurt by technical knockout in the 3rd round, and in the final he defeated his old competitor Hermann Schreibauer unanimously on points. He was then nominated as a representative of the DABV for the European Championship in Berlin . In Berlin he won the quarterfinals over the Belgian Debolster by technical knockout in the 3rd round. In the semifinals he was the unanimous point winner over Francois Magnetto from France . In the final he faced the Soviet athlete Algirdas Schozikas . Schozikas, bigger and stronger than Witterstein, turned out to be an extremely tough opponent. He always had one more hand in an exchange of blows and won on points. For Horst Witterstein, winning the Vice European Championship can be seen as a success.

In 1956 Horst Witterstein was surprisingly defeated in the final of the Bavarian championship against Josef Pietron from Munich. Therefore he could not start in the German championships. But he was nominated by the DABV for the all-German Olympic elimination. He first won over Heinz Pingel, GDR, clearly on points and in the final battle also beat the German champion from 1956 Ulli Ritter from Mannheim safely on points. He had thus qualified for participation in the Olympic Games in Melbourne . The fact that he was ultimately not there in Melbourne was due to the fact that the National Olympic Committees of the FRG and the GDR, which set up the all-German Olympic team, only approved eight starting places for Melbourne for the DABV. In ten weight classes, two athletes therefore had to stay at home. The fact that, in addition to Posorski from Halle, of all things, the Vice European Champion Horst Witterstein was not taken into account, he could not understand.

Horst Witterstein has contested the following international matches:

• January 28, 1953 in Munich, Germany against Austria , techn. Knockout winner 3rd round over Mayerhofer,
• 0December 5, 1953 in Würzburg , FRG against Finland , point defeat against Ilka Koski ,
• September 28, 1954 in Karlsruhe , FRG against Yugoslavia , point defeat against Krizmanic,
• 0November 5, 1954 in London , England against FRG, knockout winner 3rd round over Summers,
• November 25, 1954 in Copenhagen , Denmark against FRG, knockout winner 1st round over Jensen,
• January 16, 1955 in Helsinki , Finland against FRG, knockout winner 2nd round over Ojanen,
• January 18, 1955 in Stockholm , Sweden against FRG, point defeat against Ahsman,
• February 19, 1956 in Warsaw , Poland against FRG, knockout victory 2nd round over Koszianski

Horst Witterstein, who had learned to be a wood sculptor, never became a professional boxer. After the disappointment of 1956, he ended his boxer career and stayed in Kempten for his entire life. There he dedicated himself as a hobby trainer to the young boxers. In 2010, when he was eighty years old, he was still working in this field at TV 1856 Kempten.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ grief. Retrieved July 17, 2018 .