German boxer Herbert Runge was beaten in the heavyweight final of the European Championships in both 1934 and 1937, and in 1939 he was the bronze medalist. He won the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, however, beating Guillermo Lovell of Argentina on points to became the first and, after Rio 2016, only German Olympic heavyweight champion. Runge won eight German national titles between 1935 and 1943.
Runge was a trained butcher but after World War II turned to professional boxing only with little success. He did, however, fight for the German heavyweight title in 1949, losing to Hein Ten Hoff, who would later become European Champion. After quitting boxing Runge owned a pub in Remscheid which was called “Olympiaklause”, and from 1976 was employed by the Fuhlrott Museum in Wuppertal.
Germany