Lucian Popescu: European Boxing Titles in Three Divisions
Romanian boxer Lucian Popescu won the European professional flyweight title in 1930 by defeating France’s Kid Oliva in Bucharest. He later became European champion in other weight classes, including featherweight in 1939.
Three European championships at different weights
Popescu was born in Bucharest on January 12, 1912. He began in amateur boxing in 1927 and became Romania’s national flyweight champion in 1928 before moving into the professional ranks as a teenager.
His June 7, 1930, victory over Kid Oliva at Bucharest’s Romcomit arena brought his first European professional title. He then moved up to bantamweight, defeating Spain’s Carlos Flix in Bucharest in September 1931 for another European championship.
The featherweight title followed in 1939, when he beat Belgium’s Phil Dolheim. The three championships therefore belonged to three divisions, showing a progression in weight across the decade rather than repeated wins for the same belt.
Later work as a coach
After retiring from competition, Popescu coached at Bucharest’s Progresul club. AGERPRES identifies future European amateur champions Gheorghe Negrea and Aurel Dumitrescu among the boxers he trained. He died on December 9, 1982.
His career connects two parts of Romanian boxing history: professional European success in the interwar period and later coaching work at home. The dated title victories help place the archival footage above in that setting. They also keep his professional championships distinct from the amateur honors later won by boxers he helped train.
Sources
Career records and reporting: agerpres.ro.
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
