Name: PETER (THE MONKEY) MUELLER
Born: Cologne Germany 24 February 1927
Died: Cologne 22 June 1992
Record: 175 fights 132 wins (68 by KO/TKO), 26 losses (17 by KO/TKO), 14 draws, 3 No Decisions
Division: Middleweight/Super Welterweight
Stance: Orthodox
Titles: German Middleweight Champion 5 times
Major Contests
Scored wins over: Hans Stretz( twice), Ralph Jones, Joe Miceli, Ernie Durando, Jimmy Martinez, Germinal Ballarin(twice), Michel Diouf, Phil Moyer, Randy Sandy, Johnny Halafihi, Joey Giardello**, Hans Wohlers (twice),
Lost to: Hans Stretz (three times), Gene Fullmer**, Carmen Basilio**, Joey Giardello **, Vince Martinez*,Jimmy Martinez, Charles Humez. Gustav Scholz(twice)*,Alex Buxton, Hans Wohlers, Laszlo Papp (three times), Bruno Visintin, Dick Tiger **, Jupp Elze.
Drew with: Hans Stretz,
**Past/ future holder of a version of a world title
* Unsuccessful challenger for a version of a world title
Peter Mueller’s story
One sensational knockout can turn a fighter into a star name. That’s what happened to German middleweight Peter Mueller. It was 7 June 1952 and Mueller was fighting Hans Stretz for the fourth time. Stretz was 2-1 ahead in their series with Mueller disqualified for hitting Stretz when he was down in their last fight. Mueller was only 5’4” and was giving away lots of height to Stretz so had to get inside if he was to win. It seemed to Mueller that the referee, Max Pippow, who had disqualified Muller his fight with Stretz in April, kept breaking them up every time Mueller got inside. When Pippow broke them again Mueller turned and knocked Pippow down and out with a right hook. With Pippow flat on the canvas. Reportedly for eighth minutes, Mueller continued to attack Stretz and when Stretz’s seconds entered the ring Mueller threw one of them right out of the ring and then pursued Stretz’s seconds and even his own manger looking to punch anyone else in his way before climbing out of the ring and raising his hands in triumph. That report of his kayo of the referee did the equivalent of “going viral” today and Mueller was famous-for the wrong reasons. He was disqualified and banned for life and sent to a psychiatric facility. Ten months later the ban was overturned on a technicality and he was given a clearance by the psychiatric facility and continued his career.
Mueller came from a very disadvantaged family and it was said that when he was supposed to sign his first professional boxing contracts, he could not yet write his name. He was illiterate. His career and life were both chaotic. When Mueller applied for a professional licence in 1947 he was refused due to a suspended sentence for stealing. He was eventually given a licence as Mueller pleaded-convincingly-that the goods he had been stealing were not for his own benefit but was for many of the German citizens left destitute by the Second World War. He had some success in his early career being 24-3-5, 1ND before being knocked out in two rounds for the German Title in July 1949. He then put together a good run losing just once in his next 46 fights and knocking out Stretz in three rounds to win the German title. In April 1952 he lost the title to Stretz after being disqualified and he lost again to Stretz by disqualification in the madness of June 1952 described above. His notoriety helped him get a series of fights in America. In a crazy schedule. He fought Gene Fullmer on 15 November 1954 then Ralph “Tiger” Jones 19 days later, Joe Miceli seven days after the Jones fight, Ernie Durando seventeen days after Miceli and Carmen Basilio on 21 January 1955 making five ten round fights in 67 days beating Jones, Miceli and Durando and losing to Fullmer and Basilio. Later in 1955 he was knocked out by Joey Giardello and then for once was on the right side of a disqualification when Artie Towne was thrown out for knocking out Mueller with a punch before the referee had called box on. In 1956 Mueller was knocked out by Frenchman Charles Humez but regained the German title by beating Guenter Hase for the vacant title. In 1957 he again lost the German title being knocked out by Gustav Scholz. He put together a 17-bout unbeaten streak before being knocked again by Scholz for the European and German titles. He kept to a busy schedule. He Gained a revenge win over Joey Giardello in Germany in December 1960. He was beaten inside the distance three times by Lazlo Papp but regained the German title with a stoppage of Hans Werner Wohlers in 1962. By then he was coming to the end of a 19-year career and was 39 years old and after defeats against Bruno Visintin, Dick Tiger and Jupp Elze he retired in September 1966.
In 1967 he was awarded the Golden Badge of Honour by the Association of German Professional Boxers.
He was a huge favourite with the fans in his home city of Cologne both for his wild fighting style, which he adopted to compensate for at 5’4”being small for a middleweight, and his battles with German boxing bureaucracy. His defence was negligible and he was no lover of training. He was nicknamed “The Monkey” for his hairy chest, wild style and wild temper. When he fought Jupp Elze in his last fight 20,000 fans turned out for that goodbye appearance. There are many stories surrounding Mueller some probably anecdotal. He is said to have blown kisses to female fans during rounds and even kissed an occasional referee when he won a fight. He knocked out a tram conductor for not knowing who Peter Mueller was, got into a fight with a policemen who would not allow Mueller to drive to the sausage stand he had in Bonn to supplement his income. He once smashed his bare fist into a brick wall to show he had recovered from injury. At one American venue, when there was confusion over the German anthem, Mueller reportedly played the Horst Wessell song on his harmonica which is not only not the German national anthem but happens to be a song dedicated to the memory of Wessell who was a member of the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. He was ejected from a Bavarian holiday resort for allegedly harassing women and banned for three months after a racial slur against a Jewish promoter in Cologne. None of these thing affected his popularity with the fans in Cologne. He was a guarantee of full houses not just in Cologne but throughout German so many of his misdemeanours were overlooked and ironically he was sometimes a guest referee at exhibition fights (poacher turned gamekeeper).
After retirement he worked as a bouncer and drove a taxi before setting up a successful business mending slot machines which he repaired himself by hand. He was also in great demand each year as a guest speaker at events during the carnival season in Germany and even had a shot at being a pop singer with a popular cult band.
Mueller died after a stroke on 22 June 1992 but will always remembered for a few minutes of madness back in June 1952.
