Willie Pep
(Guglielmo Papaleo)
(the "Will o' the Wisp")
Record 230-11-1 (65 KO)

Pep was the ultimate boxer; He was shifty, quick, clever and game; Willie moved around the ring like a skater moves on ice or a dancer jogs on the stage

Willie began fighting in July, 1940 and was the Featherweight Champion of the World by November, 1942; He won 63 bouts before losing for the first time in 1943 and then won all of his fights for the next five years except for a single draw; Sporting a record of 136-1-1, he lost for the second time in 1948; In a career of 242 bouts, Pep lost but eleven times and had the lone draw

Herb Goldman ranked Pep as the #3 All-Time Featherweight; Nat Fleischer ranked him as the #7 All-Time Featherweight; Charley Rose ranked him as the #10 All-Time Featherweight; Pep was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1963 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990