| | Event type

Featherweight (≤57 kilograms), Men

Date	28 July – 2 August 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Messuhalli I, Helsinki
Participants	30 from 30 countries
Format	Single elimination tournament.

Judge / Referee	Abdou Sidqi	EGY
Judge / Referee	Hussain Afifi	EGY
Judge / Referee	James Devine	IRL
Judge / Referee	H. Ericson	SWE
Judge / Referee	Gillis Eriksson	SWE
Judge / Referee	John Eriksson	SWE
Judge / Referee	János Ermler	HUN
Judge / Referee	A. Forray	URU
Judge / Referee	C. Gallagher	IRL
Judge / Referee	Antonio Gilardi	ITA
Judge / Referee	J. Healy	IRL
Judge / Referee	Rolv Helmar	NOR
Judge / Referee	Bob Ingham	USA
Judge / Referee	Károly Kovács	HUN
Judge / Referee	Jacek Kowalski	POL
Judge / Referee	Emil Kübler	GER
Judge / Referee	E. Laukedrey	POL
Judge / Referee	U. Leskinen	FIN
Judge / Referee	R. Lisowski	POL
Judge / Referee	Khalil El-Maghrabi	EGY
Judge / Referee	E. Mäkinen	FIN
Judge / Referee	W. Maslowski	POL
Judge / Referee	Willie Mason	GBR
Judge / Referee	J. Neuding	POL
Judge / Referee	Donald Obeysekera	SRI
Judge / Referee	M. Raeymaekers	BEL
Judge / Referee	Stanislav Rajdl	TCH
Judge / Referee	Valle Resko	FIN
Judge / Referee	Stan Royle	GBR
Judge / Referee	René Schemann	FRA
Judge / Referee	Frank Schwinger	USA
Judge / Referee	R. Sciarra	ITA
Judge / Referee	A. Stascha	AUT
Judge / Referee	V. Stepanov	URS
Judge / Referee	Charles Thompson	GBR
Judge / Referee	Andrey Timoshin	URS
Judge / Referee	W. Van Eecken	BEL
Judge / Referee	M. Vaisberg	FRA
Judge / Referee	A. Weintraub	ROU
Judge / Referee	Nat Osk	USA
Judge / Referee	L. Saari	FIN
Judge / Referee	H. Schultz	GER

The featherweight division was the most closely contested at the Helsinki Olympics, with over a third of the bouts being decided by a split decision of the judges. The man who survived the action unscathed was 23-year-old university student Ján Zachara of Czechoslovakia. Zachara survived three successive fights from the quarter-final onwards when one of the judges decided he had lost whilst the other two declared him the victor. He seemed especially lucky to defeat European champion Joseph Ventaja in a hotly disputed semi-final bout. Zachara, a locksmith by profession, won the gold by defeating Sergio Caprari of Italy. This was the only major tournament title for the Slovakian Zachara who returned to unsuccessfully defend his title in 1956.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC
1	258	Ján Zachara	TCH	Gold
2	105	Sergio Caprari	ITA	Silver
=3	188	Joseph Ventaja	FRA	Bronze
=3	52	Len Leisching	RSA	Bronze
=5	126	Len Walters	CAN
=5	172	Lech Drogosz	POL
=5	265	János Erdei	HUN
=5	285	Edson Brown	USA
=9	234	Pentti Niinivuori	FIN
=9	24	Pedro Galasso	BRA
=9	200	Gheorghe Ilie	ROU
=9	163	Sydney Greve	PAK
=9	223	Willi Roth	GER
=9	123	Stevan Redli	YUG
=9	219	Kurt Schirra	SAA
=9	135	Seo Byeong-Ran	KOR
=17	38	Ba Nyein	MYA
=17	122	Toshihito Ishimaru	JPN
=17	71	Benoy Bose	IND
=17	91	Percy Lewis	GBR
=17	147	Yury Sokolov	URS
=17	3	Ángel Leyes	ARG
=17	44	Salah Abbas	EGY
=17	14	Don McDonnell	AUS
=17	76	Emanoul Aghasi	IRI
=17	83	Tommy Reddy	IRL
=17	31	Georgi Malezanov	BUL
=17	276	Luis Aranguren	VEN
=17	212	Åke Wärnström	SWE
=17	245	Frédy Willommet	SUI
DNS	40	Henry Jayasuriya	SRI
DNS	189	Pierre Richaud	FRA
DNS	100	Peter Brander	GBR
DNS	284	Bobby Bickle	USA
DNS	135	Taisto Tuominen	FIN

Round One

Date	28 July 1952
Format	Winner of each match advanced to the second round.

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	28 Jul	Sergio Caprari	ITA				bye
Match #2	28 Jul	Pentti Niinivuori	FIN				bye
Match #3	28 Jul	Lech Drogosz	POL	Decision	Ba Nyein	MYA
Match #4	28 Jul	Pedro Galasso	BRA	Decision	Toshihito Ishimaru	JPN
Match #5	28 Jul	Edson Brown	USA	Decision	Benoy Bose	IND
Match #6	28 Jul	Gheorghe Ilie	ROU	Decision	Percy Lewis	GBR
Match #7	28 Jul	Joseph Ventaja	FRA	Decision	Yury Sokolov	URS
Match #8	28 Jul	Sydney Greve	PAK	Knock-out	Ángel Leyes	ARG
Match #9	28 Jul	Len Walters	CAN	Decision	Salah Abbas	EGY
Match #10	28 Jul	Willi Roth	GER	Decision	Don McDonnell	AUS
Match #11	28 Jul	Len Leisching	RSA	Decision	Emanoul Aghasi	IRI
Match #12	28 Jul	Stevan Redli	YUG	Referee stops contest	Tommy Reddy	IRL
Match #13	28 Jul	János Erdei	HUN	Decision	Georgi Malezanov	BUL
Match #14	28 Jul	Kurt Schirra	SAA	Decision	Luis Aranguren	VEN
Match #15	28 Jul	Ján Zachara	TCH	Decision	Åke Wärnström	SWE
Match #16	28 Jul	Seo Byeong-Ran	KOR	Decision	Frédy Willommet	SUI

Round Two

Date	29 – 30 July 1952
Format	Winner of each match advanced to the quarter-finals.

Match	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	Sergio Caprari	ITA	Decision	Pentti Niinivuori	FIN
Match #2	Lech Drogosz	POL	Decision	Pedro Galasso	BRA
Match #3	Edson Brown	USA	Decision	Gheorghe Ilie	ROU
Match #4	Joseph Ventaja	FRA	Decision	Sydney Greve	PAK
Match #5	Len Walters	CAN	Decision	Willi Roth	GER
Match #6	Len Leisching	RSA	Decision	Stevan Redli	YUG
Match #7	János Erdei	HUN	Decision	Kurt Schirra	SAA
Match #8	Ján Zachara	TCH	Decision	Seo Byeong-Ran	KOR

Quarter-Finals

Date	31 July 1952
Format	Winner of each match advanced to the semi-finals.

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	31 Jul	Len Leisching	RSA	Decision	Len Walters	CAN
Match #2	31 Jul	Sergio Caprari	ITA	Decision	Lech Drogosz	POL
Match #3	31 Jul	Ján Zachara	TCH	Decision	János Erdei	HUN
Match #4	31 Jul	Joseph Ventaja	FRA	Decision	Edson Brown	USA

Semi-Finals

Date	1 August 1952
Format	Winner of each match advanced to the final match.

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Aug	Sergio Caprari	ITA	Decision	Joseph Ventaja	FRA
Match #2	01 Aug	Ján Zachara	TCH	Decision	Len Leisching	RSA

Final Round

Date	2 August 1952

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match 1/2	02 Aug	Ján Zachara	TCH	Decision	Sergio Caprari	ITA