Leo Potesil

Leo Potesil was an Austrian boxer who participated in both the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympics. At Helsinki, he was eliminated in his second bout of the lightweight division by Argentinian Américo Bonetti. Potesil then moved to light-welterweight at Melbourne and also lost his second bout to another Argentinian, Antonio Marcilla. Potesil was Austrian lightweight (1952 and 1953), light-welterweight (1956), and welterweight (1957) champion. In 1957, he was European Amateur Championships runner-up, losing the final to the German non-Olympian Manfred Graus.

In 1958, Potesil turned professional and won his first 18 bouts. In 1959, he lost to non-Olympian Andre Scheppler by knock-out. Potesil’s career then slowly declined and he retired in 1961. In 1963 he had a successful comeback but retired immediately and turned to coaching.