Broadway Bulletin
July 5, 1949
Papp Flat in Seventh Win
"Injured Ribs" Stymies Hungarian
By Max Gold
Olympic gold medal winner Laszlo Papp turned in a mediocre performance against Utica's Chet Vinci but picked up a unanimous win last night in an eight rounder at St. Nicholas Arena.
Papp's manager, Al Weill, claimed that his fighter had a muscle tear along his rib cage going into the contest which hampered his effectiveness.
The twenty-two year old Vinci entered the ring with a weak 13-24-3 record, and it was expected that Papp would have an easy night. But Laszlo appeared to be slow getting out of the gate allowing Vinci to put the first four rounds in his column.
Papp moved deliberately around the ring but intiated little of the action. Vinci scored with well-timed counters to the body and head as Laszlo frequently was off-target with his punches.
At the close of the fourth, Papp returned to his corner where he was subjected to a non-stop tongue lashing from a very upset Charley Goldman.
Apparently Goldman's scolding worked as Papp came out aggressive in the fifth, pretty much punching Vinci around the ring for the full three minutes. As the final seconds of the frame ticked off, it looked like referee Walt Brown was ready to halt matters but then seemed to have second thoughts.
For the remainder of the fight, Vinci offered little in the way of resistence following his fifth round beating. Papp. however, didn't press matters too far despite the fact that his opponent obviously had nothing left.
There were no knockdowns. Two judges gave Papp a slight edge with scores of 77-75 with the third coming in more strongly for the Hungarian at 79-74.
In reality the win should go to Charley Goldman. Had he not shaken his fighter up after the fourth, there might have been an upset victory for Vinci.
There have been some questions among the boxing public about Papp's ability to finish an opponent. Thus far he's been fighting the lower ranks of the middleweight division but has only stopped one opponent, and that was by way of a TKO win over Izzy Blum in his last fight.
Papp's next match is scheduled for October 10th against Vic Costa, a beefed up welterweight from the Bronx. According to Weill, his fighter should be fully healed and ready for action.