Possibly his finest victory in the Olympic ring came in the 1956 final when he beat José Torres (USA), a future world professional champion. A skilful, hard-punching southpaw, Papp was the first fighter from the Soviet bloc allowed to turn professional and he won the European middleweight title in 1962. However, in 1965, the Hungarian authorities withdrew their permission for him to fight professionally and the chance of a world title bout was denied him. Papp later served as the coach of the Hungarian national boxing team from 1971-92.