In 1965 Polish boxer Hubert Skrzypczak finished as the runner-up in the flyweight at the European Amateur Boxing Championships in East Berlin, losing to Hans Freistadt of West Germany. Two years later Skrzypczak went one better to win gold at the championships in Roma, beating Constantin Ciucă in the final. These performances earned him a place on the Olympic team for the 1968 Games in Mexico City, where he fought in the light-flyweight class. He started strongly, defeating Mohamed Selim (EGY), Tahar Aziz (MAR), and Joey Donovan (AUS), before losing to Ji Yong-Ju (KOR) in the semi-finals to win bronze.
Back home Skrzypczak won the Polish flyweight title in 1970 after finishing as the runner-up on five occasions. He had a long and impressive career as an amateur, taking part in 243 fights and winning 208 of them. The monthly boxing magazine Boks named him as amongst the best boxers in Europe four times, and the best lightweight fighter in the history of Polish boxing.
Poland