Willi Hoepner

Willi Hoepner
Data
Birth Name	Wilhelm Hoepner
Weight class	Light heavyweight
nationality	German
birthday	February 21, 1923
place of birth	Neumunster
Date of death	May 28, 1978
style	Southpaw
Combat Statistics
Struggles	63
Victories	50
Knockout victories	35
Defeats	10
draw	3
Profile in the BoxRec database

Willi Hoepner (born February 21, 1923 in Neumünster ; † May 28, 1978 ) was a German boxer . He was European light heavyweight champion.

Career

Amateur career

Willi Hoepner grew up in his hometown Neumünster and started boxing there as a teenager . In 1941, at the age of 18, he was drafted into the military and could no longer box. Only after the end of the war could he practice this sport again. He developed into an excellent light heavyweight, who was particularly noticeable for his technical ability and hardness. In 1947 and 1948 he was the light heavyweight champion of the British zone. At that time he was a member of the Holstein Kiel boxing relay .

In 1948 Willi Hoepner started at the first German championships in Cologne after World War II . In the light heavyweight division, he won the semi-final over Armin Leipold from VfB Coburg on points. In the final, however, he surprisingly lost to Heinz Sachs from Krefeld by knocking out in the second round. This was one of two defeats he suffered throughout his amateur career. In total, he completed 76 amateur fights, of which he won 73, lost 2 and boxed once.

Profile career

At the beginning of 1949 Willi Hoepner signed a professional contract with manager Emil Jung. Otto Schmidt became his trainer. He played his first professional fight on July 18, 1949 in Hamburg against Siegfried Formella, which he won by knockout in the second round. As early as 1949 and 1950 he recorded some notable victories. So he beat on December 18, 1949 in Berlin the former German light heavyweight champion Willi Pietsch on points and won on June 4, 1950 against Rudi Pepper by knockout in the 1st round.

On September 6, 1950, Willi Hoepner beat the American Lloyd Marshall in Hamburg , who had previously defeated almost the entire German elite of light heavyweight boxers, on points. This victory made him known in one fell swoop. On February 9, 1951, Willi Hoepner suffered a severe setback when he lost to Dieter Hucks from Moers by knockout in the 3rd round. Nevertheless, he did not let himself be stopped in his forward striving and became German light heavyweight champion on July 7, 1951 with a knockout victory in the third round over Heins Sachs.

Willi Hoepner successfully defended this title on November 2, 1951 and August 23, 1952 in Hamburg by winning points over Gerhard Hecht from Berlin and Heinz Sachs. On November 21, 1952, however, he lost the DM title in Berlin by a point defeat over 12 rounds against Gerhard Hecht. Then Willi Höpner won 12 fights in 1953 and in the first half of 1954 and fought once against Hans Stretz from Erlangen . With the exception of Stretz and the Dutchman Willy Schagen , whom he knocked out on May 16, 1953 in the 4th round, there were no opponents against whom he could further profile himself.

On May 21, 1954, Willi Hoepner again won the German light heavyweight championship title in Kiel with a knockout victory in the second round over Heinz Sachs. After that, Willi Hoepner fought one tough opponent after the other until his career ended on December 12, 1958. On March 11, 1955 in Hamburg in the fight against Gerhard Hecht, he also won the European title by a technical knockout victory in the second round. On June 12, 1955, he lost this title and the German championship title in Dortmund through a technical knockout defeat to his old rival Gerhard Hecht. In total, Hoepner had 5 fights against Hecht, of which he won 3.

On November 25, 1955, Willi Hoepner won the German championship title in Hamburg, which Gerhard Hecht had resigned without a fight, again by winning points over William Besmanoff from Berlin. In 1958, Willi Hoepner suffered two severe defeats from Erich Schöppner . First he lost to this opponent in the fight for the German championship on February 22, 1958 in Dortmund by knockout in the 1st round and then he went against this opponent December 12, 1958, in which it was the German championship title of Erich Schöppner and around went his European title, which he had won on May 30, 1958 by defeating the Italian Artemio Calzavara , in the 5th round KO.

Willi Hoepner also tried to establish himself in the world rankings in the light heavyweight division. But he lost on November 28, 1956 in Milwaukee , USA, a fight against Chuck Spieser by knockout in the 2nd round. His point victory over Yolande Pompey from Trinidad on May 10, 1957 in Hamburg was therefore not enough to make him interesting for further lucrative fights in the United States.

After the heavy defeat against Erich Schöppner, Willi Hoepner ended his career as an active boxer. However, he stayed with this sport as a coach. Among other things, he was national coach in several African countries and in this capacity looked after Nigeria's boxers at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich .

literature

• Bodo Harenberg, Carl Habel (Ed.): The Stars of Sports from A – Z. Carl Habel publishing house, Berlin 1970.

Web links

• Willi Hoepner in the BoxRec database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bodo Harenberg (ed.): The stars of the sport from A-Z . Carl Habel Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin 1970, p. 104 .