Harry Persson

Harry Persson (24 September 1898 – 1 October 1979), known as HP, was a Swedish heavyweight professional boxer and actor, who was the Scandinavian and European champion. Together with Arne Borg, Harry Persson was one of the biggest Swedish sports stars of the 1920s.

Biography Born in Stockholm, in 1914, Persson grew up in Vasastaden. He enlisted in Västmanland's regiment and then worked as a paver, where he built up the strength for which he became known in the ring. He first made his name as a footballer, playing as a forward, but was introduced to boxing by another footballer/boxer, Martin Tankard. As an amateur, competing for Solna BK, Persson won all of his eleven fights, nine by knockout, but in his last amateur fight he broke his thumb, leading him to miss the national final and he and was subsequently unable to box for a year. He subsequently decided to turn professional through a showcase organized by Bro IK in Upplands-Bro.

Persson made his professional debut on 14 February 1923, stopping Emil Andreasen in the ninth round to take the Scandinavian heavyweight title. and Larry Gains, In a play on his initials, he also starred in an advertisement for HP Sauce.

On 14 June 1926 in London he knocked out Englishman Phil Scott in the eleventh round, becoming EBU European heavyweight champion. After that, Persson was considered as a possible challenger to Jack Dempsey for the world title.

He then travelled to the USA in 1926 for a series of six fights, in the hope of getting a shot at Dempsey, winning the first three, including an undercard fight in Philadelphia on 23 September 1926 where Gene Tunney surprisingly defeated Jack Dempsey. On the same card, Persson knocked out Sgt Jack Adams in the fourth round. Persson refused to switch from his Swedish manager to an American, and the rest of his fights were marred by corruption. The preparation for the fight, and the fight itself were filmed and released cinematically as Harry Persson - Bud Gorman. Two further fights in the US, another controversial defeat, this time to Pat McCarthy, followed by a one-sided loss to Jim Maloney, led him to return disillusioned to Sweden. Persson announced his retirement from boxing a few days after the fight, but returned two years later for three exhibition fights, before retiring for good in 1935.