By Per Ake Persson

Italian all-time great Sandro Lopopolo passed away on Saturday in Milan (Italy) at the age of 74 after a lengthy illness. Lopopolo won silver in the 1960 Olympics and turned pro in 1961 and won the national title at super lightweight in 1963 and won what was billed as the WBC and WBA world titles in 1966 by beating Carlos Hernandez - titles he lost in 1967 to Takeshi Fuji. Lopopolo retired in 1973 with a record of 59-10-7.