Cyrille Delannoit

On 23 May 1948, he defeated reigning European champion middleweight Marcel Cerdan in a fight in Heysel Stadium in Brussels in front of 20,000 spectators.

[1] Cyriel Delannoit continued his achievements by recapturing the title again in November 1948 after a win on points against Dutch boxer Luc van Dam.

On 1 July 1951, he lost a crucial game to world champion Sugar Ray Robinson in 3rd round.

The Belgian television series Koning van de Wereld (meaning King of the world) was partly based on the life story of the boxer.

Boxer turned artist Jean-Pierre Coopman was commissioned to sculpt a statue of Cyriel Delannoit based on his famous win over Marcel Cerdan.