Former European, German and WAA world lightweight champion Rene Weller has passed away at the age of 69 after battling illness for a very long time.

Weller was the golden boy of amateur boxing in West Germany during the 1970's and his disco boy looks, and flamboyant ways, fooled many. Behind all the glitter there was an excellent fighter, one of the few during this era that was able to stand up to the fighters from the countries behind the iron curtain.

When Wilfried Sauerland, a wealthy businessman, entered professional boxing in West Germany around 1980 Weller was among his first signings.

The road to success was a bit rocky though and Rene drew in his first attempt to win the European title and then won the WAA title before winning the EBU title in 1984. He defended the title twice before losing - his only loss - to Dane Gert Bo Jacobsen in early 1986.

Weller fought and regained the EBU title in 1988 and then retired later the same year. However, he came back in 1992 but while he was still good, most of the glitter was gone. In 1994 he ended his official career with a record of 51-1-2.

A jack of all trades, Weller was also a silversmith, clothes designer, and still active doing "show fights".

In 1999 he was caught for drug dealing and did a few years in jail but once out he was soon back on his feet and did well but continued with his exhibitions and "show fights".

In 2020, BILD reported that Weller suffered from dementia and from that point on there was no way back.