Punchers from the Past: Bep van Klaveren

Name: Bep van Klaveren

Birth Name: Lambertus Steenhorst

Born: 26 September 1907 Rotterdam, Holland.

Died: 12 February 1992 Rotterdam, Holland aged 84.

Record: 110 fights, won 80 (21 by KO/TKO), lost 21 (4 by KO/TKO), 9 draws.

Career Duration: July 1929 to March 1956

Nickname: The Dutch Windmill

Division: Lightweight to middleweight.

Stance: Orthodox

Titles (Chronological order): Dutch lightweight champion, European lightweight champion, European middleweight champion, Dutch middleweight champion.

Major Contests

Scored wins over: Ceferino Garcia**, Kid Azteca, Kid Tunero, Anton Christofordis**, Luc van Dam,

Lost to: Young Corbett III** (twice),Jack Carroll (twice), Gustav Eder, Anton Christofordis**, Billy Petrolle*, Luc van Dam (twice), Idrissa Dione,

Drew with: Al Manfredo, Jupp Besselmann

**Past/ future holder of a version of a world title

* Unsuccessful challenger for a version of a world title

Bep van Klaveren’s story

Bep was born Lambertus Steenhorst the illegitimate son of an innkeeper’s daughter. In 1916 his mother married Pieter van Klaveren, whose name Lambertus adopted, and he was the eldest of their six children (see note+). He took an early interest in boxing and after leaving school he continued his interest whilst working in a butcher’s shop. At the age of 16 he began to fight in amateur competitions and won the Dutch flyweight title. He continued to have success and was selected to represent Holland at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam his home country. He battled his way through to the final beating Britain’s Fred Perry and America’s Herry Devine then captured the gold medal with a win over Argentinian Victor Peralta. He immediately became a national idol and he remains the only Dutch fighter to have won a gold medal at Olympic boxing.

van Klaveren turned professional in 1929 but made a very inauspicious start losing two of his first four fights on disqualification for low punches. Because of his Olympic fame he was already fighting over fifteen rounds by his sixth contest. He struggled to settle as a pro and after going 2-1 in fights in South Africa was a modest 14-4. He began to find some form from January 1931 going unbeaten in eleven fights including winning the European middleweight title and defending it twice. He lost the title in July 1932 and then began to campaign in America. He won 10 of his first 11 fights there with the loss coming by way of a cut eye against world title challenger Billy Petrolle. He beat future champion Ceferino Garcia but lost twice against another future champion Young Corbett III. A crowd of 25,000 watched him lose to Australian champion Jack Carroll in Sydney but a run of good results saw him collect the European title. He scored a win over future NBA light heavy champion Anton Christoforidis but lost the European middleweight title to Christoforidis in a rematch. At the start of World War II van Klaveren moved to the USA. He had six fights there but was briefly jailed for assault. When released on bail he fled the USA back to Holland leaving all of his possessions behind. His country was occupied by the Germans and in 1941 van Klaveren joined the Dutch army to fight to free his country. He was then inactive until returning to the ring in 1947 at the age of 39. Over 1947 and 48 he had 13 fights winning 11 but going 1-2 in a 3-bout series against great Dutch rival Luc van Dam in national title fights. van Klaveren had married an Australian nurse and he retired from boxing and moved to Australia. He tried a number of jobs in Australia but finally returned to Holland in January 1954. He won 11 of his next twelve fights reversing the lone loss in that run. He challenged Idrissa Dione for the European welterweight title in November 1955 but was outpointed. van Klaveren was 48 and the Dione  fight was No 109 for him. In March 1956 after losing on cuts against Werner Handtke van Klaveren retired. Over his 27-year career he fought on four continents, Europe, Africa, America and Australia but never landed a shot at any version of the world title. His Olympic gold medal was celebrated by a statue in Rotterdam in 1992 erected after his death and the annual Dutch boxing tournament the Bep van Klaveren Memorial Tournament is named after him.

+Note: It may be some kind of record. Bep won his Olympic gold in 1928. His younger brother Piet also boxed at the Olympic Games but in 1952-a gap of 24 years between two boxing brothers competing at the Olympics. Piet reached the quarter-finals. He boxed professionally from 1953 to 1960 going 26-0-1 at the start of his career and winning the Dutch lightweight title before finishing with a 34-7-3 record.