Brother of former middle champ Teddy...Ive heard good things about him but not enough to get a good idea on him...never seen him on film. He beat guys like Dave Sands, Edgar, Basora, Hunter, Beau, Barone (who in one of the rematches was the only guy to stop Yarosz..on a cut)...I had read reports he was robbed in his fight with Lamotta...Boxrec's quote from the Ring seems to confirm this. Seemed to be in the peak of his power from 44-49.. Anyone care to say how he would have went against guys like Zale, Cerdan, Abrams and Graziano?
Never saw him on film. My father fought him to a draw I believe in '49. I know it was a couple fights after Tommy beat the Australian champ in London, and just after he dropped two disputed decisions to Bobo Olson and Nick Barone. Tommy was, from the articles I have, a 'boxing' light-heavy with a good jab, and not such a crowd pleaser, which may account for the number of close decisions that went against him. Even though Tommy was from a little mill town outside of Pittsburgh, he was an 'out-of-towner in Pittsburgh where he met my father at the Zivic Arena, and his manager Ray Arcel said after the fight, "Now you see what I meant when I insisted we were robbed the last two fights out of town. If Tommy can win in (Pittsburgh) and not get the decision how could he have gotten it in Syracuse (Barone) and Honolulu, (Olson)? And he won in both of these places just as easily as he did here. Yarosz was the 2-1 favorite going into his fight with Charley Young Zivic, but the crowd was highly partisan against him. Love to see any films on Tommy, especially this one with Zivic.
good record dont know much about the period like who was good fighters and that but he beat some good fighters who had good records thanks for the link
Funny you should ask... :hey Nah, just funny 'cause as many ESB members will verify, I'm always happy to discuss this subject. In the merciful spirit of the season, I'll spare them and you the details and only say that what made him special was he fought with a half a right arm. A childhood injury, (he dove off a two-story building), broke his right arm in half, and left him with a steel plate and only about six inches of movement in that arm. He was right-handed, which meant he had no long cross and had to do his fighting on the inside. But since this happened when he was ten years old, by that time his left had developed quite a bit. He was known for his fighting, comeback spirit, and his ripping left hook.
No, he retired before I was born. He had to quit due to a dead kidney. Never even saw any films on him.
