Gyula Török Edges a Tight Final for Olympic Gold
Gyula Török was a Hungarian amateur boxer who won flyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Born in Kispest, Budapest, on January 24, 1938, he also competed at the 1964 Tokyo Games and later worked as a coach.
The route to Rome
Török began boxing in 1948 and won Hungarian flyweight championships in 1957 and 1958. His first major international medal was silver at the 1959 European Championships in Lucerne, where Manfred Homberg won the final.
In Rome, Török advanced to the flyweight final against the Soviet Union’s Sergey Sivko. The Hungarian won a close 3–2 decision and took the Olympic gold medal. It was the central achievement of his international amateur career.
He subsequently moved to bantamweight and won further Hungarian national championships in 1961, 1962 and 1964. At Tokyo 1964 he lost his opening contest to Oleg Grigoryev. His later work included club coaching and service with Hungary’s national boxing program. Török died in Budapest on January 12, 2014, shortly before his seventy-sixth birthday.
A move in weight and a coaching career
His path to the Rome final included three decision victories and one knockout. That sequence required success across several tournament rounds before the narrow final verdict delivered Hungary’s flyweight gold. The championship remained the high point of his international results.
After retiring from competition in 1966, Török spent decades working at the Kispest Granite Factory. He also stayed involved with boxing through club coaching and national-team assignments, including a brief period as Hungary’s head coach in 1993. His post-competition life kept a direct connection to the sport.
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Boxing, Boxing History
