He won a gold medal in Boxing at the 1924 Summer Olympics, defeating Danish boxer Søren Petersen in the final.

[1] Von Porat was born in the little parish of Pjätteryd, Kronoberg County, Sweden, into an independently wealthy family.

It was while employed as a minor clerk in the office of an Oslo shipping agent that von Porat became interested in boxing.

It is said that his fight with Paulino Uzcudun "gave rise to the wide-spread impression that von Porat lack[ed] aggressiveness and ... the 'killer instinct.'

Although he had a once-promising career and was a top contender for the Heavyweight Title, von Porat apparently lacked self-confidence and thus "lost fighting strength in the rough American school."