Name: Willie Pep
Alias: Will o' the Wisp
Birth Name: Gugliermo Papaleo
Born: 1922-09-19
Birthplace: Middletown, Connecticut, USA
Died: 2006-11-23 (Age:84)
Nationality: US American
Hometown: Rocky Hill, Connecticut, USA
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5′ 5″   /   165cm
Reach: 68″   /   173cm
Boxing Record: click

Manager: Lou Viscusi
Trainer: Bill Gore
Officiating Record: Referee

Willie Pep Gallery

• Named The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1945.
• Pep went on to become a prominent referee, and the deputy boxing commissioner of Connecticut.
  
• (The Italian Stallions: Heroes of Boxing's Glory Days, page 73)
• In 1990, Pep was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
• In 1999, The Associated Press selected Pep as the greatest featherweight of the 20th Century and the fifth greatest boxer of the century.
• Pep's final years were spent at the West Hill Convalescent Home in Rocky Hill, Connecticut.
• Pep's record, up until the Sammy Angott loss, as compiled by Robert Yalen.
• Inducted into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010.

Name: Billy Petrolle
Alias: The Fargo Express
Birth Name: William Michael Petrolle
Born: 1905-01-10
Birthplace: Berwick, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: 1983-05-14 (Age:78)
Nationality: US American
Hometown: Fargo, North Dakota, USA
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5′ 7″   /   170cm
Reach: 70″   /   178cm
Boxing Record: click

Manager: Jack Hurley
Photo #2; Photo #3; Photo #4, Photo #5

Billy Petrolle (PET-troe-lee) was the brother of fellow boxers Pete Petrolle and Frank Petrolle. The family was from Schenectady, New York.

It had been reported that Petrolle had fought some 255 career bouts. (He had at least one early bout under the name of "Wolf Larson" (Aug. 4, 1923), according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA, USA) newspaper, Aug. 14, 1923, p. 15.)

Petrolle graced the covers of The Ring Magazine in May 1927, March 1931, and May 1932. An article on him appeared in the July 2008 issue.

Petrolle retired during the Great Depression after making some $200,000 in ring earnings, and owning an iron foundry in Duluth, Minnesota. He later owned a religious goods and gift shop in Duluth, and was the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Pioneer National Bank.

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