Paulo Pons, Criador de Estrelas Wrestling

Paul Pons foi o campeão de wrestling greco-romano da França na década de 1890. Ele venceu um torneio no Folies Bergère, antes de vencer um torneio na Rússia 1898. Essas vitórias lhe permitiram conquistar o Campeonato Mundial de Luta Greco-Romana. Pons capitalizou essa notoriedade através da abertura de uma academia para lutadores de trem e homens fortes.

Pons’ victory was particularly remarkable because of his age. Paul Pons was born in 1864 making him 34 years old at the time of his victory. While he was not ancient by grappling standards, he was getting up there. Several of Pons’ biógrafos afirmaram que Pons venceu outros campeonatos mundiais após 1898 but many of these claims are hard to prove.

Vários países europeus realizaram torneios de luta livre ao longo do ano. When a wrestler won one of the tournaments, he often claimed to be the World Champion. However, the recognized World Champion from 1901 a 1908 was George Hackenschmidt. Pons never defeated Hackenschmidt. Pons normalmente terminava em segundo ou terceiro nos torneios “Hack” entered.

Paul Pons was a giant of a man. He stood between 6’05” to 6’06” tall and weighed 260 pounds in his prime. Pons era mais famoso por provar a legitimidade de estrelas do wrestling em ascensão. When George Hackenschmidt beat Paul Pons, a comunidade do wrestling sabia que ele era um sério candidato ao Campeonato Mundial.

Paul Pons made stars in the ring but he also made stars in the gym. One of his pupils was Constant LeVaux, Constant the Butcher, que ganhou o campeonato francês de wrestling muitas vezes. George Hackenschmidt considered Constant a tough challenger.

Em 1915, Paul Pons died at 49 anos de idade. What caused his death or if it was related to World World I, I have not been able to find. Infelizmente, Pons is not well known outside of his native France today.

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