Freddie Steele versus James Toney?

ahhhh, one of my favourite type of threads. everything i know about steele i've read and seen very little of him so i'm curious about people's opinions myself

 

J, Freddie Steele was one of our greatest middleweights of alltime. In his firs90 or so fights he was virtuably unbeatable, until his bout with Fred Apostoli,when Steele had his breastbone fractured,and it never truly healed
and also the death of his beloved mgr ,contributed to shortening his great career. Very likely Steele,at his best was a top FIVE middleweight champion:good

 

thanks bb! what's the best footage we have available of him in action?

 

Steele was a terrific fighter. A boxer-puncher with a big punch who liked to pressure his opponents. I feel this would be a problem here since this plays right into Toney´s counterpunching strength. I feel Steele needs to stay on long range and work behind the jab to keep the fight there. When it goes inside Toney´s counterpunching will take over. Close fight actually. Despite beeing a huge banger I don´t think Steele can knock out Toney. If Freddie uses the right tactic, working behind the jab, staying at distance, he can win the fight. Perhaps a bit similar to the Toney-Nunn fight before Toney got him. If Toney manages to make this a trench war I feel he will edge it. Steele had a very good chin too, so I doubt Toney will get a knockout either. This one goes to the cards. I favour Steele.

 

I believe this film of Steele koing Vince Dundee,who had so many fights.shows Steele at his best. There is another film of the Steele/Fred Apostoli fight in which Freddie Steele had his painful breastbone injury,and was the turning point of his great career.
P>S> J ,I would love to see film of his prime, showing Freddie Steele koing the tough Ceferino Garcia TWICE. I doubt these films exist today.
Steele in my eyes was the most underated champion there is..:good

 

thanks burt and that last statement seems to be echoed on other threads in the forum. i'll check out the dundee fight now

 

Steele at his best, in my opinion was against a young Gus Lesnevitch. Just a pitch-perfect display of punch-picking power. Pow!

 

damn! poor dundee, he never really seemed to get over that hook from 1:19...to be honest that fight should have been stopped sooner and would have in the modern era

 

I think TOney picks apart most come forward styles, Steele is a little wild too. It would be competitive but have to go with JT

 

Could someone big up James Toney in the same way everyone does for Freddie Steele? Toney would look incredible in black n' white.

 

I don't think Steele was necessarily a come forward guy though. He seemed to use his fast footwork to go in and out of range while bombarding his opponents with power punches. He did go a bit wild when going for the finish (excusable with the rules of his day when the referees rarely stopped the fights), but was more composed otherwise. Toney himself went a little power punch happy when he had his man hurt but it worked most of the time. Steele was not reliant on power only as he won as many decisions as he had knockouts.

It would be of great help in deciding this match-up had Steele been around to fight some of the great black contenders of the 40's who deployed the techniques that Toney later did. Steele fought many clever movers but I don't know if he ever fought a counter-puncher like Toney. Tough to say without much film on the likes of Gorilla Jones, Baby Joe Gans and others.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0wQwA5xyN4[/ame]

Steele in the striped trunks.

 

J, can you picture any fighter today, taking the awful punishment that Vince Dundee took from Freddie Steele,without the bout being stopped. After the bout the veteran Vince Dundee had severe injuries.
This fight reminded me somewhat like the Dempsey slaughter if Jess willard
in 1919. Our ancestors were a tougher breed than today, methinks.Take care.

 

A,thanks for this film of the Steele / Lesnevich fight .Your version of this bout is so much clearer than the darker clip i saw before, especially the first round.
P.S. Has there been a better LONG RANGE puncher than Freddie Steele?
What a left hand Steele had !. And Gus Lesnevich grew into a helluva light
heavyweight fighter,who I saw a few times @MSG...