Life After His Fighting Career
After retiring, he and Saddler involved in a series of exhibition bouts, and in 1980, Pep sued Sports Illustrated for running a story suggesting that he threw his fight with Perez. Pep lost the lawsuit, the jury deliberating just 15 minutes.
Pep remained active in boxing after hanging up the gloves, serving as an inspector and referee.
In 1977, Pep was elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1990, Pep was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame as a member of the Hall's original class. Pep, who enjoyed giving out autographs to his fans, worked there as a volunteer alongside fellow former world champion boxer and friend Carmen Basilio.
As of March 2006, Pep resided at a nursing home in Connecticut, suffering from Dementia pugilistica, before his death on November 23, 2006. He is buried in Rocky Hill, CT. He has two children: William "Billy" Papaleo and Mary Papaleo. Both reside in Wethersfield, CT.
Pep had a record of 229 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw, with 65 wins by knockout.
Pep was ranked 6th on Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years in 2002. Pep was also named the 3rd greatest fighter of all time by Bert Sugar.
Pep was ranked 5th on ESPN,s 50 Greatest Boxers Of All time list in 2007.
Read more about this topic: Willie Pep
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