# Pete Rademacher

Thomas Peter Rademacher (November 20, 1928 – June 4, 2020) was an American heavyweight boxer. As an amateur, he was a gold medalist at the 1956 Olympics. Rademacher became the only person to challenge for the world heavyweight championship in his first professional bout when he faced Floyd Patterson in Seattle on August 22, 1957. He compiled a 15-7-1 record over 23 professional bouts.
A former college football player at Washington State, Rademacher took up boxing as a form of rehabilitation during his recovery from rheumatic fever, which he contracted in military school.

## Amateur career

In his amateur career, Rademacher won 72 bouts and lost 7. He won a series of tournaments, including the 1949 and 1951–1953 Seattle Golden Gloves (he lost in 1950 to Zora Folley, who was his frequent opponent throughout his boxing career), and the US Amateur Championship as a heavyweight in 1953—avenging his earlier loss to Folley.
He captured the Chicago Golden Gloves, the All-Army championship, and the Service championship in 1956, before qualifying for the Olympic team. At the Olympics, he captured a gold medal in the heavyweight division and served as the U.S. flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

### 1956 Olympic results

* Round of 16: bye
* Quarterfinal: Defeated Josef Němec (Czechoslovakia) KO 2
* Semifinal: Defeated Daan Bekker (South Africa) KO 3
* Final: Defeated Lev Mukhin (Soviet Union) KO 1 (won gold medal)
Rademacher also attended college, playing offensive line on the football team for Washington State.

## Professional career

After winning the gold medal, Rademacher started saying that he would be able to become world heavyweight champion in his first professional fight. He made his belief public and was able to lure world Heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson into defending his crown against him in his professional debut. It is the only time to date that a fighter making his professional debut has challenged for the world heavyweight title.
The bout, at Sick's Stadium in Seattle, was refereed by former light-heavyweight champion Tommy Loughran, who himself had contended for the heavy crown once, vs. Primo Carnera, in 1934. Rademacher dropped Patterson in round two, but Patterson recovered and knocked Rademacher down seven times, defeating him by a knockout in round six. Legendary boxing promoter Jack Hurley promoted the match.
Rademacher fought Zora Folley, Brian London, George Chuvalo, Buddy Turman, and the former world light heavyweight champion, Archie Moore. He lost to Moore, Folley and London but beat Chuvalo, LaMar Clark, and Turman, among others. His last bout was with former world middleweight champion Carl "Bobo" Olson, whom he beat by decision.

## Personal life

Rademacher had Finnish ancestry; his maternal grandparents were immigrants from Finland. He was married to Margaret and had a daughter Susan (born c. 1954–1955). In addition to boxing, he was a salesman and inventor. He was president of the company Kiefer-McNeil which was founded by fellow Olympian, Adolph Kiefer. Rademacher died in Sandusky, Ohio on June 4, 2020, at the age of 91. His brain was donated for medical research.

## Professional boxing record

| 23 fights | 15 wins | 7 losses |
| By knockout | 8 | 6 |
| By decision | 7 | 1 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 23 | Win | 15–7–1 | Bobo Olson | UD | 10 | Apr 3, 1962 | Honolulu Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. | |
| 22 | Loss | 14–7–1 | Karl Mildenberger | PTS | 10 | Jan 20, 1962 | Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany | |
| 21 | Win | 14–6–1 | Buddy Turman | TKO | 9 (10) | Nov 30, 1961 | Fair Park Coliseum, Dallas, Texas, U.S. | |
| 20 | Loss | 13–6–1 | Archie Moore | TKO | 6 (10), 2:10 | Oct 23, 1961 | Baltimore Coliseum, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | |
| 19 | Loss | 13–5–1 | George Logan | KO | 2 (10), 2:40 | Aug 17, 1961 | Boise, Idaho, U.S. | |
| 18 | Loss | 13–4–1 | Doug Jones | KO | 5 (10), 0:54 | Apr 29, 1961 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. | |
| 17 | Win | 13–3–1 | Dan Vanderford | KO | 1 (10), 2:17 | Apr 14, 1961 | Armory, Gastonia, North Carolina, U.S. | |
| 16 | Win | 12–3–1 | Harvey Taylor | KO | 1 (10), 2:47 | Feb 22, 1961 | Yakima, Washington, U.S. | |
| 15 | Win | 11–3–1 | Donnie Fleeman | UD | 10 | Jan 23, 1961 | Seattle Civic Ice Arena, Seattle, Washington, U.S. | |
| 14 | Win | 10–3–1 | Willi Besmanoff | UD | 10 | Dec 13, 1960 | Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | |
| 13 | Win | 9–3–1 | Kirk Barrow | SD | 10 | Dec 8, 1960 | Spokane Coliseum, Spokane, Washington, U.S. | |
| 12 | Win | 8–3–1 | George Chuvalo | UD | 10 | Jul 19, 1960 | Maple Leaf Stadium, Toronto, Canada | |
| 11 | Win | 7–3–1 | LaMar Clark | TKO | 10 (10), 2:27 | Jun 29, 1960 | Derks Field, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. | |
| 10 | Loss | 6–3–1 | Brian London | KO | 7 (10), 0:15 | Apr 26, 1960 | Empire Pool, London, England | |
| 9 | Draw | 6–2–1 | Ulli Ritter | PTS | 10 | Apr 8, 1960 | Sportpalast, Berlin, Germany | |
| 8 | Win | 6–2 | Ulli Nitzschke | KO | 7 (10) | Feb 6, 1960 | Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany | |
| 7 | Win | 5–2 | Johnny York | PTS | 8 | Dec 9, 1959 | Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | |
| 6 | Win | 4–2 | Buddy Keener | KO | 1 (10), 2:52 | Nov 12, 1959 | City Auditorium, Columbus, Georgia, U.S. | |
| 5 | Win | 3–2 | Calvin Butler | UD | 10 | Sep 29, 1959 | Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. | |
| 4 | Win | 2–2 | Ralph Schneider | TKO | 3 (10) | Sep 17, 1959 | Greenville Memorial Auditorium, Greenville, South Carolina, U.S. | |
| 3 | Win | 1–2 | Tommy Thompson | RTD | 5 (10) | Aug 23, 1959 | Municipal Auditorium, Columbus, Georgia, U.S. | |
| 2 | Loss | 0–2 | Zora Folley | KO | 4 (10), 1:15 | Jul 25, 1958 | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 1 | Loss | 0–1 | Floyd Patterson | KO | 6 (15), 2:57 | Aug 22, 1957 | Sick's Stadium, Seattle, Washington, U.S. | For NYSAC and The Ring heavyweight titles |