Freddie Steele Appreciation Thread

[The Funny Man 7]

Interesting BB. I was just going off what I read in Ring Magazine. I'll take your word for it.

[ecto55]

[quote=The Funny Man 7;14237260]
Its often forgotten that Steele was even more famous for his spectacular footwork than for his punching power. [quote]


That is very interisting to read about, as I was unfamiliar with this aspect of his boxing abilities. It seems the more I find out about Freddie Steele, the more interisting and versatile his style appears.

It's not often you hear about a heavy right-handed puncher who also featured intricate footwork...it leads me to think that he could fight in a variety of styles??

Thanks for that tidbit...

[fists of fury]

Nice to see Steele getting some love. About time.

[Vysotsky]

Originally Posted by burt bienstock

A few observations : Life AND boxing was far crueler in the old days as witnessed by the brave referee allowing the fight to continue after Vince Dundee was floored ELEVEN times before stopping the contest...
Was there ever a braver performance than Vince Dundee gave that night after truly being out on his feet after the first knockdown ?
Freddie Steele was almost unbeatable in his first 10 years in the ring.
The era of the 1930s produced great MWs like Freddie Steele, Al Hostak, Tony Zale, Jock McAvoy, Marcel Thil, Billy Conn, Teddy Yarosz, Solly Krieger, Georgie Abrams, Fred Apostoli, Ken Overlin etc ,ALL who would be MW champion today and according to a Nat Fleischer who saw them all
would be vast underdogs to a Harry Greb from a decade earlier...Lest we forget...

Don't forget that Steele turned pro at age 13 !!! People try to discredit his Garcia win for example by talking about his inexperience yet Steele was only 19 and Garcia 25 the first time he beat him

Originally Posted by ecto55

[

It's not often you hear about a heavy right-handed puncher who also featured intricate footwork...it leads me to think that he could fight in a variety of styles??

Thanks for that tidbit...

Dont forget that leaping left hook which was beautiful and nasty. His first KD against Dundee being a good example of it.

[The Funny Man 7]

Steele was a body double for Errol Flynn in Gentleman Jim. The director filmed Steele from the waist down in certain scenes, editing in Steele's feet as he was shadow boxing to capture Jim Corbett's fancy footwork for the movie.

[thistle1]

Burt what do you know of a few other outstanding middles of that time too, in Glen Lee, Ben Brown (I think that was his name) and one or two others?

[ron u.k.]

It's good to see Jock McAvoy getting a mention on here a helluva puncher back then and a real handful for anyone.
So what about Jock's great rival from these shores back then Len Harvey who beat Jock 3 times out of four? What's peoples thoughts on him?

[thistle1]

Originally Posted by ron u.k.

It's good to see Jock McAvoy getting a mention on here a helluva puncher back then and a real handful for anyone.
So what about Jock's great rival from these shores back then Len Harvey who beat Jock 3 times out of four? What's peoples thoughts on him?

it is good and not only good but Fair & Accurate, McAvoy was 'probably' the best middleweight in the world mid-late 30s and I've never understood Steele getting the kudos and Mac is non existant, however MOST people just didn't realise or know all the McAvoy facts!

as to Len Harvey, Harvey was a 'true' L-HW cum HW, he was a bigger man than McAvoy and a defensive wiz, which was his downfall in the 'rugged' states, but an all-time great non the less. Personally I think Len Harvey IS Britain's Greatest ever fighter all things taking into consideration - SKILL, Opposition, LONGEVIETY, and Weight Divisional title holder.

and thats when these titles actually meant something!!!

[ron u.k.]

Originally Posted by thistle1

it is good and not only good but Fair & Accurate, McAvoy was 'probably' the best middleweight in the world mid-late 30s and I've never understood Steele getting the kudos and Mac is non existant, however MOST people just didn't realise or know all the McAvoy facts!

as to Len Harvey, Harvey was a 'true' L-HW cum HW, he was a bigger man than McAvoy and a defensive wiz, which was his downfall in the 'rugged' states, but an all-time great non the less. Personally I think Len Harvey IS Britain's Greatest ever fighter all things taking into consideration - SKILL, Opposition, LONGEVIETY, and Weight Divisional title holder.

and thats when these titles actually meant something!!!

My old man used to speak in reverend tones about Harvey saying he was a really clever and highly skilled fighter,but very tough with it.
I did wonder whether there was a bit of a size difference between Harvey and McAvoy so thanks for that Thistle,although Jock did move up eventually.

[burt bienstock]

Originally Posted by thistle1

Burt what do you know of a few other outstanding middles of that time too, in Glen Lee, Ben Brown (I think that was his name) and one or two others?

As a kid I recall the names Glen Lee and Ben Brown. Glen Lee was a rugged MW along the lines of Gene Fullmer who's best win was over Solly Krieger...Bullish was he but couldn't beat the top MW contenders of that rich laden MW era. Ben Brown was a very good MW who beat Teddy Yarosz twice and drew with the great [forgotten sadly] Ken Overlin...Today as a MW Ben Brown would most likely hold a title...What an era for middleweights, the 1930s !

[Theron]

Bump