Jean Despeaux

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Jean Sylvain Despeaux (born October 22, 1915 in Paris , † May 25, 1989 in Largentière ) was a French middleweight boxer and Olympic champion from 1936.

Career

Jean Despeaux won the gold medal in the middleweight division (up to 72.6 kg) at the 11th Summer Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 , making him the only French medalist to date at the Olympic Games in this weight class. He prevailed against Juan Bregaliano from Uruguay , Josef Hrubeš from Czechoslovakia , Raúl Villarreal from Argentina and Henry Tiller from Norway . In 1937 he was defeated in an international match against Erich Campe , silver medalist at the 1932 Olympic Games.

In 1938 Jean Despeaux became a professional and won the French championship against Assane Diouf on November 8, 1941 and defended the title against Edouard Tenet , Joe Brun and in a rematch against Diouf. In December 1942 he lost in a rematch against Edouard Tenet, but won the third duel in January 1944. A month later he was defeated on points against Felix Wouters .

In May 1945 he lost for the first time prematurely to Marcel Cerdan and ended his career after another knockout loss in January 1946 against Laurent Dauthuille .

From 1942 to 1949 he also appeared as an actor in French film productions such as The Murderer Ways No. 21 , The Hand of the Devil , Manon , Le parfum de la dame en noir and Maya .

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personal data
SURNAME Despeaux, Jean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Despeaux, Jean Sylvain
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French boxer
DATE OF BIRTH October 22, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1989
Place of death Largentière