Freddie ( Tacoma Assassin) Steele - Top 5 MW and ATG

He ducked Apostoli though and his career is tainted from having never unified the titles to become THE champion. But he was very good. He would stand no chance against Hagler or Burley, but he may beat Monzon because Monzon was taken to his absolute limit by inferior middleweights like natural 154-pounder Denny Moyer and past-prime, balding Emile Griffith, was open most of all to left hooks, and looked subpar against fighters at or close to his height.

 

There's sadly little footage of Steele around. But what I see of him leads me to believe that he's hold his own against virtually any middleweight in history. He seems very fast and agile, and hits like a hammer. He's got a bit of an unorthodox shifty style going there but judging by his absolutely superlative record, it was very effective. I have no problem with people arguing him into the top 10 MW's and hell, even top 5. There are points to be put forward.

 

He fought Apostoli twice, a win and a loss.

 

The first was when Steele had plenty of fights and was in his prime while Apostoli barely had any. Then he ducked him until the tail end of his career and got his ass kicked by a now-prime Apostoli

 

Steele is certainly Top 10. His resume is rock solid, he was unbeaten for 6 years with victories over Garcia (multiple), Risko (multiple), Gorilla Jones (multiple), Dundee, Lesnevich, Krieger... He certainly passes the Eye Test on film.

In these discussions, you can twist any narrative with enough speculation. You can even say that Monzon was easier to beat than Burley at middle. But the undeniable, non-speculative facts remain.

 

Burley was absolutely not conventional. He had as much speed as Roy Jones, Jr. and even more skill than Archie Moore. Steele moved in the ring a lot, but he was definitely not as slick as Duran. That long, leaping right jab of Hagler would get inside of Steele’s left hook and finish him off. Ketchel would be too unexposed for Steele, though. I won’t give an opinion on Greb since there is no fight footage of him. Overall, Steele was definitely one of the best of all time.

 

Correct he fought him twice.

 

again McAvoy, gets overlooked...

I have a 1939 Ratings Report, in which none other than the Famous Reporter Norman Hurst, who was Syndicated throughout the UK and also supplied info & reports to the States...

anyway Hurst mentions that STEELE and Apostili both Sidestepped McAvoy.

I don't know how to Post it up on here, otherwise I would, that and a lot more. I'll gladly email it to someone if they send me an email address.

so McAvoy vs Steele has always been the Best MW fight from 1935-39, as far as I see it.

the USA got over this by claiming Mac was a L-HW, he was a MW cum l-hw, as were many, many Top Fighters in those days, who competed successfully in 2 or even 3 Divisions.

 

Apparently he ducked a guy he fought twice. Never knew that part about him.

 

Burley couldn't sell snow to an Eskimo. He stunk out the joint more often than not. And at middle, he was certainly beatable by top end fighters, which Steele most certainly was. This guy here...

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is not as fast a Roy Jones. He is a great fighter, don't get me wrong, some amazing defensive and countering work. But it's become a bit of a cottage industry to insist he was the greatest. There were some legit reasons why he never got his shot.

Ketchel? You have to be crazy. Steele would eat Stanley alive.

 

Oops, about Ketchel I mean unevolved, not unexposed. But I still believe Burley would eat Steele alive.

 

Canelo never ducked GGG, he fought him twice! Brilliant logic.

 

Oh, OK. I thought that was weird on Ketchel.

Burley was great, no doubt. That would have been a helluva match-up. Steele was extremely skilled offensively, great balance, excellent hand speed and plenty of pop. Burley might be able to stink it out against him and grab a decision (if all judging is fair) but I certainly don't see the eaten alive scenario.