Luc van Dam

Luc van Dam
Data
Birth Name	Luc from Dam
Weight class	medium weight
nationality	Dutch
birthday	October 23, 1920
place of birth	Schiedam
Date of death	July 21, 1976
Place of death	Rotterdam
style	Left-hand boom
Combat Statistics
Struggles	106
Victories	87
Knockout victories	32
Defeats	16
draw	3
Profile in the BoxRec database

Luc van Dam (born October 23, 1920 in Schiedam , † July 21, 1976 in Rotterdam ) was a Dutch boxer . He was the Dutch middleweight champion.

Career

Luc van Dam, who became a professional boxer in 1939 when he was just 19 years old, was one of the most outstanding stylists to have ever stood in a Dutch ring. He began his career on April 21, 1939 in Copenhagen with a narrow point defeat against the Dane Hans Holdt, but was already in his seventh professional fight on August 12, 1940 by a point victory over the defending champion Leen Sanders Dutch middleweight champion. On December 2, 1941, he achieved a remarkable point victory over the German ex-European welterweight champion Gustav Eder in Rotterdam . At the latest from this point in time he was known by boxing fans all over Europe and was one of the best European middleweights of those years.

This was also proven by his victory over the Frenchman Edouard Tenet on July 25, 1942 in Amsterdam . On December 13, 1942, he faced Gustav Eder in Berlin in revenge. Luc van Dam gave Eder another great fight, although this time he lost on points.

On January 20, 1943 he got the chance to fight against Josef Besselmann for the European Middleweight Championship in Hamburg . In a tough and even fight, Besselmann just got the upper hand after 15 rounds and thus defended his title. On April 23, 1944, Luc van Dam knocked out Belgian ex-European welterweight champion Felix Wouters in the third round in Brussels and won the Dutch middleweight championship again on May 30, 1944 in Amsterdam by winning points over Pierre Doorenbosch he resigned without a fight in 1941. He successfully defended this title on August 11, 1945 against Willie Quentemeijer .

In 1946 and 1947, Luc van Dam pushed his way forward. He fought against the French Laurent Dauthuille and the Belgian Cyrille Delannoit in a draw and won another title defense on May 31, 1947 in Amsterdam over Gerrit Lefebre by technical knockout in the 9th round. On August 10, 1947, he faced Bep van Klaveren at the Feijenoord Stadium in Rotterdam . It was again about the Dutch middleweight championship. In front of 30,000 spectators, van Klaveren won and thus dethroned Luc van Dam. But just under a month later, on September 5, 1947, van Dam turned the tables in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam and defeated van Klaveren on points, thus regaining his Dutch championship title.

On November 6, 1948, Luc van Dam tried again to become European champion. In the Palais des Sports in Brussels, he faced Cyrille Delannoit. The title was vacant as it was resigned by Marcel Cerdan when he went to the United States to become world champion. Luc van Dam and Cyrille Delannoit fought an even fight, which Delannoit won just on points.

In 1949 and 1950, Luc van Dam celebrated victories over Albert Finch (on January 24, 1949 in London ), Gilbert Stock (on March 19, 1949 in Paris ), Kid Marcel (on November 22, 1949 in The Hague ) and Jacques Royer -Crezy (on March 31, 1950 in Amsterdam). All four were European ranked boxers. On December 9, 1950, the match between Van Dam and Sugar Ray Robinson , the world welterweight champion from the USA , took place in the Palais des Sports in Brussels in front of 15,000 spectators . Robinson, who knocked out the opponents who faced him in rows on his European tour, also did not spare Luc van Dam this fate. In the 3rd round van Dam was saved by the gong after several knockdowns, but in the 4th round it was enough for him. Robinson won this round by knockout.

Despite this defeat, Luc van Dam fought on. On February 27, 1951, he even competed again in London for the European middleweight title. He met the young Briton Randy Turpin , who caught Luc van Dam off guard and knocked out in the first round.

After an honorable point defeat against Frenchman Claude Milazzo on January 28, 1952 in Paris, Luc van Dam ended his boxing career. He had been a professional in the ring for 13 years and was without a doubt one of the best European middleweight boxers of his time, even though he never managed to become European champion.

Title fights from Luc van Dam

date	place	for the title of / the	Weight class	Result
5.2.1940	Rotterdam	Netherlands	medium	Point loss to Leen Sanders
August 12, 1940	Rotterdam	Netherlands	medium	Points victory over Leen Sanders
September 22, 1940	Rotterdam	Netherlands	medium	Points victory over Bob Rieger
12/22/1940	Rotterdam	Netherlands	medium	Points victory over Leen Sanders
11/20/1943	Hamburg	Europe (EBU)	medium	Point defeat after 15 rounds against Jupp Besselmann , Germany
March 31, 1943	Amsterdam	Netherlands	medium	Tech. KO victory in the 9th round over George Posno
May 30, 1944	Amsterdam	Netherlands	medium	Points victory over Pierre Doorenbosch
August 11, 1945	Amsterdam	Netherlands	medium	Points victory over Willie Quentemeijer
May 31, 1947	Amsterdam	Netherlands	medium	Technical knockout victory over Gerrit Lefebre
8/10/1947	Rotterdam	Netherlands	medium	Loss to Bep van Klaveren
5.9.1947	Amsterdam	Netherlands	medium	Victory over Bep van Klaveren
May 15, 1948	Amsterdam	Netherlands	medium	Points victory over Bep van Klaveren
11/6/1948	Brussels	Europe (EBU)	medium	Point loss to Cyrille Delannoit , Belgium
November 6, 1950	Rotterdam	Netherlands	medium	Points victory over Job Roos
February 17, 1951	Harrington	Europe (EBU)	medium	1st round knockout loss to Randy Turpin , England

literature

• Box Sport magazine

Web links

Commons : Luc van Dam  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Luc van Dam in the BoxRec database
• Luc van Dam in the BoxRec Encyclopaedia
• Brief portrait and record by Luc van Dam